
Class B»V-c 

Book JtiL _ 



CopghtN?__. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




DRAPERIES MADE BY THE B. C. M. 



BOYS' CONGRESS 
OF MISSIONS 



BY 

EMMA EMILIE KOEHLER 



PHILADELPHIA 

THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 

1907 



J 



c\5 



^ ^ 



U3HARY of CONGRESS 

Two Cooles Received 

MAY 20 1907 

Copyright Entry 

CUSS (ftX XXc, No. 

/7(p 3 30 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1907, 
By Emma Emilie Koehler. 



Published May, 1907. 






O little bulb, uncouth, 

Ragged and rusty brown, 
Have you some dew of youth ? 
Have you a crimson gown ? 
Plant me and see 
What I shall be,— 
God's fine surprise 
Before your eyes ! 

Maltbie D. Babcock. 



BOYS' CONGRESS OF MISSIONS 



If I were to invite a company of boys to a 
superb track meet, I should be most certain of 
participants and spectators. From the first 
pistol shot which starts the 
event to the award of the 
gold medals, interest never 
flags. Every nerve and mus- 
cle in the arena is strained 
in fierce competition, and the 
athlete, though going down 
with incredible concussion, 
comes up smiling after every 
fall. All this is not surpris- 
ing, for, as some one has 
said, a boy has four thou- 
sand muscles to keep him 
going, and none to keep him still. 

But the question is frequently asked, "Can 
this active, athletic, frank, irrepressible crea- 
ture of fourteen or sixteen become interested 
in the great brotherhood of humanity; to use 
a church term, in 'missions'?" The answer 
generally returned is an emphatic "Never!" 

5 




6 Boys' Congress of Missions 

Is this true? Is it a fact that an everyday 
boy, a genuine fellow who loves his play and 
his pantry apparently more than anything else, 
is averse to the idea of bettering the condition 
of the less favored? I think, if the subject from 
its proper viewpoints is brought to his atten- 
tion, I can with emphasis answer this in the 
negative. Indeed, a boy is fascinated by new 
and unexplored regions, whether on home shores 
or in African wilds. 

In these days of philatelists, even the postage 
stamp of remote countries at once rouses a 
boy's curiosity and adventure, and stirs up 
within him the desire to know more, and to see 
more. The long-necked giraffe comfortably 
nibbling at the palm leaves far beyond the reach 
of man; the crouching tiger; the enraged ele- 
phant with trunk and tail high in the air, or 
calmly and clumsily striding over the long 
stretches of the Sudan ; the hippopotamus in its 
uncouth, ungainly, terrible strength — all these, 
as they appear in review as the postal symbols 
of tropical countries, suggest other interesting 
facts toward which the fancy of the boy very 
naturally turns. 

Impossible tales, so shrewdly written as to 
resemble the truth, are his delight, and history 
and biography of the thrilling sort have ever 
engrossed him in a snug corner of the library. 



Boys' Coetgkess of Missions 7 

Why then should not the heroic adventures of 
explorers and of missionaries, opening up 
regions to trade and to truth, capture the mind 
of the boy? 

Some one once fixed up this little doggerel : — 

"A boy will hunt, 
And a boy will fish, 

And a boy will play all day; 
But a boy won't think, 
And a boy won't work, 

Because he ain't built that way." 

But this I regard as an unorthodox state- 
ment, for I believe that 

' ' A boy will think, 
And a boy will work, 

If you'll only head him that way." 

There is something in the start an athlete 
gets in the arena, and I have seen even so fleet 
a man as Lightbody miss getting first under 
the tape because he tripped and fell at the be- 
ginning of the race. The same is true of the 
lad in the Christian race; a faulty start may 
handicap him throughout. 

This start should be made very early. Even 
the Cossack knows the value of this, for when 
a baby Cossack is but forty days old, the father 
buckles a sword about the infant's waist when, 
in the arms of his mother, he is brought home 
from the ceremony of purification. The very 



8 Boys' Congbess of Missions 

cradle-songs are musical tales of border war- 
fare, and as soon as his little legs will permit, 
he sits astride a horse. All this, that he may 
best serve the Russian Czar. 



MEN OF TO-MORROW 



A brown-eyed, brown-haired, rosy-cheeked 
boy, the roses hardly visible through the grime, 
sat next to me recently at a meeting of one of 
the large boys ' clubs of Chicago. He was listen- 
ing intently to the speaker, a cartoonist well 
known in the city, who was teaching moral les- 
sons by a combination of picture and dramatic 
oratory. 

Suddenly, the cartoonist energetically asked 
the question: — 

"Who are you anyway, boys?" 

Quick as a flash, and lustily, came the an- 
swer from the dark-eyed, begrimed lad of 
eleven : — 

"Men of to-morrow!" 

I wondered and smiled. The answer was true 
enough, but I hoped some one would take the 
youngster well in tow before he became a man, 



10 Boys' Congeess of Missions 

when he might be a maker of laws and customs 
for the city — possibly for me — and when he 
should exercise all the potent rights of an 
individual citizen. 

"To-day's boy will be the organizer, con- 
tributor, soldier at the front, twenty years 
hence," and "when a boy goes wrong, a man 
of to-morrow dies." 

Society has a duty toward the street arab, 
and toward the better class of boys, boys reared 
in good homes and surrounded ostensibly by 
church influences, boys who assuredly are also 
"men of to-morrow," and the prospective 
active followers of the Master. 

Good things in life are a boy's heritage, and 
nothing belongs to him more surely than the 
supreme blessing — a knowledge of the Way, the 
Truth, and the Life. The spiritual spark which 
touched his soul at birth must merely be kindled 
into brighter flame, and at no period of his 
existence is this quite so possible as in his boy- 
hood years. The mental film is then sensitive, 
and impressions made upon it are ineradi- 
cably etched on his mind and heart. By this 
early start, moral diseases are prevented, and 
remedies later are unnecessary. The moral 
bloom has never really left the cheek, and in 
the vigor of a spiritual boyhood he enters the 
walks of manhood a help and a blessing to the 



Men of To-morkow 11 

world. From the beginning, he belonged to his 
Creator, and having been kept by his side, no 
search need be made for him in the f atnons and 
deceptively fascinating highways of society. 

Boys as boys have been susceptible to the 
truth, and have wrought great good through 
their early acceptance of religious principles. 
William McKinley was about sixteen when he 
made his first public profession of religion. 
"Gypsy" Smith was seventeen, when, dressed 
in his gypsy best, he stood by the roadside 
preaching his first public sermon. It was a slave 
boy of Tyre, Frumentius, who rose in the royal 
household of Abyssinia, and who in the fourth 
century sowed the first seeds of Christianity in 
that African country. When fifteen years of 
age, James Chalmers, having heard of the gos- 
pel work among the Fijis, prayed God to make 
him a missionary as he knelt in an improvised 
sanctuary in a lonely place under mural shelter. 
In 1809, a dark-skinned boy wept on the steps 
of Yale College, longing for an education that 
he might carry the religion of our country to 
his native land. The boy was Henry Obookiah ; 
his country, the picturesque, flowery land of 
Hawaii. A student lad of fourteen saved the 
allied armies of Pekin. It was the boy Wu 
Yuan's faith in the Christian's God that carried 
him through all dangers to the British officer 



12 Boys' Congress of Missions 

at Tientsin, brought him back to the besieged 
legation, and finally saved the day. 

"Jim," of American Sunday School Union 
fame, deserves more than passing mention. 
The story of his brief life is thrilling as to what 
a boy can do for the kingdom. 

Dubbed "the meanest boy in all this country," 
Jim, nevertheless, for novelty's sake drummed 
up a big attendance for an evangelistic meet- 
ing, and then gazed over his satisfactory con- 
gregation with a laconic, "I fetched 'em!" to 
the speaker. 

Some subtle, irresistible influence took hold 
of his heart in that meeting, and unreservedly, 
irrevocably, he gave his heart to God. Then 
followed college days, and vacations in which 
Jim worked for his Master, and after organiz- 
ing thirty-three Sunday schools in three sum- 
mers, he went Home. 

Examples could be multiplied ad infinitum 
from secular sources; and then there remain 
always the young heroes of Holy Writ — Joseph, 
Samuel, and David, Josiah, Daniel, and 
Timothy. 

To put or to keep a boy on the right track, 
a method of presenting moral and religious 
thought should be used which will appeal to him. 
When boy-nature is understood, his tastes 
learned, his predilections determined, I believe 



Men of To-mokrow 13 

lie can be reached through those avenues. In- 
apt measures are sometimes productive of good 
results, but they are generally hazardous. 

Next door to us a few years ago, lived two 
fine fellows, aged thirteen and fifteen respec- 
tively, with a baby sister of a few months. 

"Who takes care of Irene ?" I asked my 
nephew, himself a formidable athlete of fifteen. 

"Cummings does, most of the time," he an- 
swered, mentioning the older boy. 

"How does he keep her quiet, or what does 
he do to entertain her?" 

"Oh, he sings to her most of the time." 

"Can he sing?" I asked, in surprise. 

"No, nothing but 'Rock of Ages,' but he sings 
that all day long. ' 9 

Now "Bock of Ages" was hardly adapted to 
the boy or to the baby, and though it seemed to 
serve the purpose in this instance, I repeat that 
means of this kind are usually hazardous. 

"A boy is always first," says Dr. Charles 
Frederic Goss. Rather have footprints on the 
church Wilton than the absence of the boy. 
Generally speaking, the boy is a destructive 
creature, but I agree with Drummond that "an 
inch of boy is worth a million yards of carpet." 

I think I once met an ideal sexton. A dozen 
boys of the trying age of fifteen or sixteen were 
hanging about at the close of a meeting when 



14 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

the clock pointed near to ten. They had just 
started for home when the sexton called after 
them : — 

"Oh, don't go yet, boys; I've got an apple for 
each of yon." 

Could there have been anything more irre- 
sistible, more hypnotic against vandalism, and 
in favor of good behavior? I am sure the boys 
remembered that sexton that night in their 
prayers. 

The percentum of men in the church at large 
is small compared with that of women, and one 
of the reasons for this is that the boy has been 
allowed to drift away. Hardly anyone will 
deny this, and it should spur the church on to 
the adoption of better measures with which to 
keep a hold on the boy. The words, "Thy 
kingdom come," are uttered frequently by our 
lips, but very many times conventionally merely. 
A good way to get an answer to this petition is 
by giving the boy a chance in the kingdom as 
it is represented on earth. 

Money spent for the improvement of boys and 
for their entertainment is occasionally charily 
given or even regretted. Good church people 
are often a little slow about putting their hands 
down into their pockets and producing the where- 
withal which shall pay for the things that will 
ultimately yield the dividend. 



Men of To-morrow 15 

On the other hand in our suburb, the " White 
City," with its varied fascinations — wholesome 
and unwholesome — went up as if by magic, and 
men with mundane and material ambitions put 
millions of money into the enterprise. Millions 
more were spent on Sabbath afternoons within 
the gates, and the frequenters on hallowed Sab- 
bath afternoons were the children of Christians, 
as well as of other parents. 

Again, in this same suburb, Marlowe Theater, 
with its cheap and sensational shows, was 
splendidly repaired in the spring to be ready for 
the summer Sunday occupancy. 

Unless we contravene these influences, by and 
by, we shall have to erect moral lighthouses, but 
in the wrecks along the way possibly only a 
few spars will be rescued. 

1 t There 's a place for the boys. They '11 find it somewhere ; 
And if our own homes are too daintily fair 
For the touch of their fingers, the tread of their feet, 
They'll find it, and find it, alas, in the street, 
'Mid the gildings of sin, and the glitter of vice." 

Hear what the Hon. Leslie M. Shaw, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, says in this connection : — 

11 About the only door that swings with sure 
welcome to the boy; about the only chair that 
is shoved near the fire especially for the boy; 
about the only place where he is sure of a 
welcome ; is where you do not desire him to go. ' ' 



16 Boys' Congress of Missions 

During a brief resting season last summer, 
my sister requested that I act as substitute 
teacher in an industrial mission on a warm Sun- 
day afternoon. 

"But I am on my vacation, " I protested. 

To this she replied that so many of their 
teachers were away that the school was suffer- 
ing for want of substitutes. 

I yielded to her argument, and on the way 
presently passed a pretty cottage from the door 
of which hung a wreath of white blossoms, 
intertwined with dark red galax leaves, with 
white ribbons fluttering in the breeze. 

' i Some child has been gathered in, " I mused, 
"and I guess the children would better be 
taught. 

" 'Death worketh — let me work too; 
Death undoeth — let me do! 
Busy as death, my work I ply, 
Till I rest in the rest of eternity.' " 

Going about a half mile further, I passed a 
massive, rich-looking structure of stone, whose 
beautiful exterior hardly suggested the degrada- 
tion within. It was the county jail, and as I 
turned the corner and looked up, I saw behind 
the grated windows the faces of some who had 
lost their liberty, and with hands locked outside 
the bars to keep from falling (there were evi- 
dently no ledges to the windows inside), they 



Men of To-mokrow 17 

were straining nerve and muscle for a glimpse 
of the outside world — the kingdom they had 
lost — and were calling to us as we passed. 

" Crime continues/' I remarked, "and very 
evidently the gospel must be preached in the 
summer as well as in the cooler season." 

' l Sin worketh — let me work too ; 
Sin undoeth — let me do! 
Busy as sin, my work I ply, 
Till I rest in the rest of eternity.' ' 

Put on the right track, given legitimate reign 
to his nature, kept in the kingdom, supported 
financially, instructed properly as to the way of 
life and of death, a boy will certainly love the 
good and the true, and will quickly appreciate 
conditions of those from whom such light has 
been withheld. 



" The son of God goes forth to war, 

A kingly crown to gain ; 
His blood-red banner streams afar : 

Who follows in his train ? 
Who best can drink his cup of woe, 

Triumphant over pain, 
Who patient bears his cross below, 

He follows in his train.** 



ORGANIZATION 



The Boys' Congress of Missions began its 
existence in the spring of 1898, with a class of 
eleven boys from what is known in our suburb 
as the State Street Mission. 

The first meeting still 
stands out very distinctly, 
Harry M , a good, hand- 
some boy of fourteen, was 
elected President; "A. D. 

R. " (note the initials, 

which is the way he signed 
himself officially, though he 
was always known among us 
as "Archie") was chosen 
Secretary, and although 
there was no money as yet to 

take care of, Glenn McK 

Treasurer. 

"A. D. R. ," alias our Archie, was very 

busy during the first meeting over his "Min- 
uts," and with the exception of a few ortho- 
graphical errors, consisting of the omission 
of letters anyway useless (as in "Congres" 

21 




was duly elected 



22 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

and the word just quoted), the Secretary 
made a very creditable report for a lad of thir- 
teen. 

After a few months of presidential honors (or 
burdens, I well recollect, for the President could 

not maintain order), Harry M tendered his 

resignation. Norman F was formally 

elected his successor. Norman never abbreviated 
his name. He was such a popular young fellow 
at the time, a few years the others' senior, and 
such a leader among the boys, that our usual 
familiarity with him precluded the use of any- 
thing but an affectionate "Norman," and under 
any other name he would have lost his cordial 
and amiable identity. 

The members met at our home monthly for 
the purpose of the study of missions in its broad 
sense. With the advance in numbers, the 
domestic furniture ran great monthly risks, and 
the Congress adjourned to the pleasant lecture 
room of the Englewood Presbyterian Church of 
Chicago. Though to-day it may be said to be 
made up of boys, good, not so good, and indiffer- 
ent, it has outgrown its somewhat obscure origin 
and includes in its personnel some of the finest 
boys in Chicago, all bound for the kingdom of 
heaven it is hoped, and many trying to bring 
others with them, not only from this country but 
from very distant lands. 



Okganizatioet 23 

Briefly stated, the purpose of the organization 
has been threefold : — 

1. To cultivate a broad brotherhood spirit; 
namely, to learn that the good things of this 
life — and none better than the gospel — are in- 
tended for all the denizens of the earth. 

2. To make the church a rendezvous for boys 
as well as for others. 

3. To teach boys to give — to give money, the 
real coin of the realm. 

The distinctive feature of the organization 
was to have representatives from all parts of the 
globe, and each boy from the first was called a 
" Member,' ? and was made responsible for news 
— geographical, political, historical, or religious 
— concerning his country, when his name was 
called from the roll. 

The programme generally followed may be 
epitomized in this way: — 

Prayer. 

A Scripture verse containing a broad missionary thought. 

Music. 

The Beporter's report. 

An offering for Missions. 

The roll call by countries. 

A brief address, and 

Befreshments. 

The programme has, of course, been varied 
from time to time in many particulars, but the 
essential features have never been omitted; on 



24 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

the contrary, they have simply been worked out 
more perfectly as time has gone on. 

Occasionally, a very brief reading of an excep- 
tionally interesting character has been made a 
part of the evening. This may have been an 
essay by one of the older boys, possibly on the 
"Sultan," by the Member from Turkey, "Home 
Life in Mexico," by the Member from that 
country, or ' i Wu Yuan's Heroism, ' ' by the Mem- 
ber from China. 

Originally, the boys wore on the lapels of their 
coats the seven colors of the rainbow in the form 
of seven short ribbons symbolizing hope for all 
the world, but these were done away with, and 
little flags of their countries took the place on 
the lapels. As the number advanced, this cus- 
tom was dispensed with, and the bright, diminu- 
tive flags now decorate the pulpit on the even- 
ing of the meetings. 

A rap of the gavel opens the meeting. The 
gavel was made, turned, and polished, by a 
young visitor on the occasion of a banquet given 
by the boys. The Eeporter stated that as it was 
made by the donor himself, "it was warranted 
not to break," and that "it would be devoted 
to the sacred use of preserving order." It has 
answered the purpose fairly well. 

For membership, an application blank like 
the following is filled in: — 



Okganizatioet 25 



BOYS' CONGRESS OF MISSIONS 



APPLICATION BLANK 



LJuc&aa, ^ "/SO. 

tJtcisrte „ - 

UUlcl^eSd 

Ut^e 

Cu W&tJ: <}*~ <at Q)ona<i€ ? — .. 



yvnaf L^/vu^ion <or~ QitisidasU Q)<^n<xu da 



4f&u <cvtfen<i ? 

li/JiieJi <>l)t<di&ia*i batted u<i4c teJze /h 
&nt&t ? ~ ~ 

<u&u ? . 



When our membership numbered between 
thirty and forty, but one "Division" existed, 



26 Boys' Congeess of Missions 

but when the membership exceeded that number, 
several " Divisions" were made. In the assign- 
ment of the boys to the Divisions, their ages 
and friendships govern largely, and during 
the roll call the Divisions repair to separate 
rooms. 

We now have six Divisions, graded chiefly as 
stated, all but the oldest boys, which compose 
the first Division, stepping into other rooms 
for about fifteen minutes for the roll call. An 
adult person, whom we call the "Division 
Leader," calls the roll. Of late, in this work, 
some of the oldest boys hiave assisted the Divi- 
sion Leaders. 

With a membership of one hundred and fifty 
boys, one could scarcely find countries enough, 
practically speaking, to go around, but by 
means of the arrangement of six Divisions, time 
during roll call is saved, and each country can 
be used six times ; in other words, there can be 
six "Members from India," six "Members 
from Africa," etc. 

The separation of the Congress into Divisions 
has also the advantage of making the older 
boys feel that they are not classified with the 
younger. 

We have three committees, consisting of six 
members each, but in order to give all the boys 
something to do, the personnel of the committee 



Organization 27 

changes every month. A record is kept of the 
monthly appointments, so that the boys serve 
as far as practicable on the various committees 
in turn. 

The committees are the Floor, Eefreshment, 
and Decorating Committees. The members of 
these committees wear white, blue, or red satin 
badges respectively, bearing the inscription, 
"Floor," "Refreshment," or "Decorating," as 
the case may be. 

The Floor Committee looks to the ventilation 
of the room, to the seating of visitors, the distri- 
bution and collection of refreshment checks, and 
to other matters of a similar nature. 

The following is a specimen notice to the 
Floor Committee: — 

' ' Please come at 7 : 45, if practicable. 
Keep the room well ventilated. 
Exercise a big-brotherly care over, and interest in, the 

younger boys. 
Guard against little accidents. 
Get acquainted with the stranger -boys and make them 

feel at home. 
Look after the comfort of adult visitors. 
Be useful on the floor. 
Take up the offering.' * 

The Refreshment Committee, as the name im- 
plies — and by the way, every boy always wants 
to be on that committee — repairs to the kitchen 



28 Boys' Congress of Missions 

to prepare and to dispense the refreshments. 
They also have the honor of ' ' doing the dishes, ' ' 
which usually are only spoons at this stage of 
our existence, for we generally have ice cream, 
and the ice cream company furnishes us little 
pasteboard plates free of charge. The compen- 
sation of these hard-worked young caterers 
is often an extra brick of cream, which is di- 
vided among the boys after the kitchen work is 
done. 

The Decorating Committee meets the even- 
ing before the regular meeting to put up the 
wall helps and decorations, and after the meet- 
ing takes them down, folds them, and places 
them in a chest provided for the purpose. 

A monthly notice, giving the essentials re- 
garding the prospective meeting, is always 
mailed to each member. At the beginning of 
the year slips like the one following, which give 
the conventional facts regarding the meeting, are 
printed, and as it will be observed that the 
exact date is left off, they are usable through- 
out the year. The notices are always mailed 
the Tuesday before the meeting and though the 
boys may forget that the meeting occurs on 
the fourth Friday of the month, they know that 
the Friday on the card stands for the Friday 
after the receipt of the notice, and it is not, 
therefore, an ambiguous term. 



Organization 29 






This monthly notice is supplemented by a 
printed notice mentioning special matters for 
the meeting. 

A few years ago, this announcement was sent 
ont in September, and served as the first an- 
nouncement of that year : — 

"Boys' Congress of Missions 
Friday evening at 8 o'clock. 
The new year begins. 
It will be better than ever. 
95 boys are enrolled. 
100 are expected. 
A quartet has been organized. 



30 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

A constitution will be adopted shortly. 

More money was raised for missions last year than any 

previous year. 
A stereopticon lecture is planned for October. 
Bring your missionary offering. 
Come and enroll for the new year. 
Get a new country. 
May God bless you and your home." 

Again, the monthly announcement of the 
meeting appears in our church calendar, which 
makes the boys feel that the organization is a 
part of the great church plan. It would not, 
of course, be advisable to place the notice in 
other church calendars, for although many 
denominations are represented and all boys 
are welcome, it is not desired to interfere 
in any way with the meetings of other 
churches. 

The roster is kept clear as to the names 
and addresses, and return cards are fre- 
quently used where there is any doubt as to the 
delivery of a notice or of its reaching the ad- 
dressee. 

The attendance is always carefully marked, 
and after three successive absences, unless a 
boy has good reasons, his name is dropped from 
the roll. 

The simplest kind of a card was early adopted 
as a sort of invitation to boy friends. It con- 
sisted of a blank card bearing merely the words, 



Organization 31 



Z/hyt <i Zf/iA&ru/ 



Such a card was regularly inclosed with the 
monthly notice, and it was often put to good 
use. 

In order to get acquainted with the new- 
comers, the new boys are sometimes asked to 
rise at the second meeting of their attendance, 
so they can be identified. Again, they are occa- 
sionally asked to meet the Superintendent on 
another Friday, when their countries are talked 
over with them, and other matters pertaining 
to the organization, of interest to them, are 
taken up. 

Originally, we had a Chaplain, a Doorkeeper, 
and a Sergeant-at-arms ; but if I remember 
rightly, the Doorkeeper and Sergeant needed so 
much watching themselves that in some per- 
fectly natural but forgotten way they dropped 
out of office, and successors were never ap- 
pointed. The Chaplain, be it said with deep 
sorrow, was the first to go Home. 



32 Boys' Congress of Missions 

One of the most delightful features of the 
Boys' Congress of Missions has always been the 
Eeporter. He occupies a desk in front, bear- 
ing a small cloth sign marked "Reporter's 
Gallery," and from this position he chronicles 
such ideas as come to him regarding the boys 
and their programme. 

This report appears in print in the monthly 
church paper, and after it has been printed, 
it is read back to the boys at the next meet- 
ing. 

As may be fancied, the interest in the report 
depends upon the pen of the Eeporter, and we 
have been specially felicitous in having witty 
and critically discriminating reporters. Repor- 
torial yarns are spun, of course, at times, but 
they are harmless and are enjoyed by the boys. 
Little personalities are indulged in, which are 
always listened to eagerly, and the boys are 
always appreciative of the Reporter's wit and 
wisdom. 

As showing what these big, buoyant, facetious, 
happy boys are capable of, and really appre- 
ciative of, notwithstanding their effervescent 
nature, I may quote this encouraging and 
genuinely discriminating critique from the last 
report of one of our reporters, a youth of seven- 
teen : — 

"We had the pleasure of listening to Mr. 



Organization 33 

Hotchkiss, a returned missionary from Africa. 
We often have the pleasure of hearing mission- 
aries who have labored in peaceful fields, but 
it has never before been our privilege to see 
and hear a man who has, like Gordon and 
Livingstone, threaded the dense mazes of 
Central Africa with a few natives, fighting wild 
beasts, and facing hostile natives ; and who like 
the great Paton learned the native language 
unaided, by discovering the key-phrase — the 
native words for 'What is it?' 

"He told us how, with one companion, he 
was treed by eleven lions; how by killing a 
great rhinoceros he won a place in the hearts 
of the people ; how he subsisted upon sour milk 
and beans for two months; how he searched 
for the native word for 'Saviour' for over two 
years; and how on finding it he was able to 
convert the native ; how — but to be appreciated 
he must be heard. As Dr. Eobinson expressed 
it, 'We heard the real thing.' " 

The Eeporter has always jestingly introduced 
a "Sherlock Holmes" into the organization. 
He has always been a myth, but we have decided 
to try the appointment of a kind of detective 
or critic, who sees things we do not see, and 
who can suggest where we can make im- 
provements. 

In the early stages of the Congress, we con- 



34 Boys' Congress of Missions 

eluded the meeting with the famous lines from 
Longfellow: — 

Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime; 

And departing leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time. 

When the boys get to be over eighteen years 
of age, most of them think they have outgrown 
the organization; perhaps, however, not so 
much the organization as the association with 
the younger boys. They, therefore, leave the 
organization to join the various young people's 
societies of the churches. Though we regret 
to lose them, they go out with our benediction, 
and in the hope that world-wide lessons have 
been burned into their hearts. 



PERSONNEL 



The question is often asked, Are the B. C. M. 
boys rich or poor, educated or illiterate, 
tough or cultured? 

The answer might be 
affirmatively made as to all 
the epithets, for you never 
knew a representative Amer- 
ican body of boys that did 
not embrace all these ele- 
ments. But this may be 
truthfully said of the boys 
as a whole: A brighter, 
more interesting, genuine, 
promising set was never 
known. In the seven years 
of my connection with these 
future citizens, the personnel has, of course, 
changed, for in a city of the size of Chicago, 
the population is ever changing places, and yet it 
is with real gratitude that I look upon the boy 
faces in my mental gallery and find that most of 
the early members are still there. I see the 
childish faces grown into the earnest, manly ; the 

35 




36 Boys' Congress of Missions 

sweet, untried expression changed to a stronger 
and more self-reliant one ; the selfish, saucy coun- 
tenance become gentle, more serious ; I see most 
of the faces characterized by the frank, whole- 
some expression which belongs to juvenile years, 
though a few — which I mention with regret — 
suggest moral indifference. 

Most of the boys come from the average home ; 
a small proportion from a less favored district 
in the city where the saloon is the rendezvous; 
some, on the other hand, from the best homes 
in the city. 

The ages of the boys range from ten to 
eighteen years. Among the number is the 
brawny, athletic fellow and his tiny would-be 
imitator ; the lank and awkward youth growing 
too fast for his years, and the pudgy fellow 
whom the most lively imagination cannot pic- 
ture a six-footer ever. There is P M , 

who is always thinking out something original; 

W McC , who is never contented unless 

he has something to do. There are the 

McK s, one a trial and the other a treasure, 

but the treasure a trial once. There is also 

K , who once declared that he 

" wouldn't be good if he didn't have to," while 

young V is unspeakably faithful and 

promising, with a voice capable of singing boys 
and men into the kingdom. 



Personnel. 37 

I could hardly do justice to the character of 

H H — — . There are worse boys than he 

in the slums, there are boys with less principle 
and less humanity, but there are few harder to 
govern. Having everything a boy can wish — 
material things, a bright mind, a handsome face 
— there are few avenues through which he can 
be reached. He has wit, which is appreciated 
by every boy I know, and he often displays that 
wit to the detriment of a meeting. 

When he went into the postage stamp business 
on a boy's scale, his father, who furnished the 
cash, was admitted into the partnership under 

the title, i ' H & Father. ' ' The boy generally 

wears alike-me-or4ump-me-I-don't-care air, and 
it is often difficult to penetrate this stratum and 
reach his heart. 

Once he fell very ill with pneumonia while 
aiding in the arrangement of a track meet, just 
a little side entertainment the boys were to have. 
In his delirium, his mind would wander to the 
pole-vaulting, and he would murmur, "Put the 
pole five inches higher; I think I can make it." 
His life was despaired of, and it was a sad time 
for the father and for the boy's friends, and 
most earnest prayers went up for his recovery. 
He is among the boys still, and our faith fancies 
a fine lifework yet for him. 

Not long since, the world was surprised over 



38 Boys' Congress of Missions 

the discovery in South Africa of a pure white 
diamond valued roughly at five millions of dol- 
lars, and outclassing in size all the famed stones 
in the world's history. 

But to make it marketable — perfect and 
brilliant and scintillating, and revealing the 
highest luminous qualities of which such a stone 
is capable — it would have to be cut repeatedly 
and polished over and again, until finally it 
would assume some intricate rose form and find 
a place among the royal jewels of great empires. 

Through the grime and dust and irregularities 
of boy nature shines always that which is im- 
mortal, and it is by cutting and polishing and 
cutting again that his threefold nature in its 
full beauty appears, and the process systemati- 
cally and persistently followed up will make 
him worthy "when He cometh to make up his 
jewels." The fragments and dust of the Eegent 
or Pitt diamond in the Louvre were sold for 
forty thousand dollars, but what shall a boy 
give in exchange for his soul? 

Letters are received by me from time to time 
from the boys on some subject or another, and 
they act as little lanterns to a boy's soul. One 
will thoughtfully write why he could not be 
present ; another why he could not perform some 
little assignment of duty ; a third may after re- 
peated unavoidable absences request that his 



Personnel 39 

name be retained on the roll (this was done 
even by one of the invincibles) ; and another 
may in manly terms ask for some assistance in 
his work. Occasionally, a boy thoughtfully re- 
ports a change of residence, or puts in an ex- 
planation of some kind for his younger brother, 
or makes a manly and conscientious statement 
about some misunderstanding. 

Perhaps one of the most trying boys on the 
whole is a bright, good-looking youth of seven- 
teen from one of the neighboring Sunday schools, 
but I am more and more convinced that a boy's 
soul is like some flowers — one must with sensi- 
tive touch open up the petals, and peer down 
to see the peculiar beauty within. It was so 
with this boy, for in a company of boys I made 
the offer that five dollars should go to some 
school for missionary work, if the boys would 
state a cause. This ordinarily harrowing youth 
spoke up with real earnestness in these words : 

"I belong to a Prayer Circle, which has a 
missionary in Africa, and I'd like the money 
for him, if you please." 

So he was interested in a Prayer Circle and 
in a missionary, and I was thankful that there 
was genuine moral beauty deeper down. 

Three of the boys have been called Home in 
very tender years. One was accidentally shot 
in play by a little friend ; another died of typhoid 



40 Boys' Congress of Missions 

fever, and a third, the "Member from Brazil," 
a boy of sixteen, died after but three weeks of 
illness with "quick" consumption. I knew the 
third best. He had a wonderful knowledge of 
God's will, and though for a brief space he had 
been led into frivolities, he more than redeemed 
the time during his short illness. He died with 
a prayer on his lips for his drunken father, and 
with assurance to those about him that he had 
no fear of death. 

One does not receive written or oral testimony 
always of what good one's efforts accomplish, 
but I feel that in the case of some of these boys, 
it will be as it was with one with whom I had 
labored long without apparent result, and yet 
who wrote me after a silence of six years: 
"Thought you'd be glad to lern that I had 
turnd over a new lef." 

Six years from now I may get similar 
messages. It was the piece of clay that lay 
near the Persian rose that caught the sweetest 
scent. It is the boy surrounded by the best 
atmosphere who will eventually develop the 
tenderest, strongest character. 



DISCIPLINE 



It is much easier to theorize on the matter of 
good order and discipline than to get the real 
result. If it were not for the order that must 

be maintained in boys' ^&r- 

classes, clubs, and sim- ^^-J^^^^^^^>— g 
ilar organizations, more <c ^N^jg§5r 55SSB 

men and women would ^^^ Ste * b * 8 **^ ^^ 

stick to the work. It is ^ s/ ^ 

fascinating at the start, for the boy is an inter- 
esting creature, and yet the whispering, giggling, 
mischievous lad smothers many a fine ambition 
in the worker. He grows weary of his youthful 
charges, his zeal gradually diminishes, and he 
drops among a host of predecessors by the way- 
side of juvenile enterprise. 

It is George Eliot, I believe, who says that a 
" boy's idea of heaven is noise," and it seems 
perfectly consistent — to him, at least — to wish 
himself in heaven all the time. I asked a Mt. 
Hermon boy once whether on a certain occa- 
sion he had had a good time, and when answered 
in the affirmative, I asked him what the boys 
had done. 

41 



42 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

' i Oh, ' 9 he replied, his face still luminous with 
the memory of the day, "we yelled and yelled 
and yelled. " 

A boy has his 

"Powers in such command 
He can turn right into a full brass band." 

When a goodly company of boys are together, 
wherever it may be, they generally suggest the 
Central American countries " where revolutions 
are an industry, " and where the people are 
always in insurrection. But underneath these 
visible and audible demonstrations are often 
real purpose and principle, and the crucial 
moment brings the hero into view* 

It is said that surgery in special instances 
has made a bad boy good; that a bony growth 
pressing on the brain having been removed, 
reformation was positively effected. Every- 
one connected with boys' work must have wished 
at times that he might call in a surgeon. 
Even hypnotism has been recently suggested, 
and occasionally one would not discourage even 
so chimerical an expedient. 

Again, one might wish himself perfectly 
trained in that exquisite Japanese art of self- 
defense — jiu-jitsu. One could then charm one's 
opponent by magic, and foil and floor him with- 
out the slightest injury. Of course, these are 



Discipline 43 

speculations by the way, but not without inter- 
est, and though for special success one needs to be 
a veritable M. A., Master of the finest of Arts — 
the art of character-building — it ever remains 
that a little natural tact, a good deal of expe- 
rience, and the " trust that is real power, though 
the heart and hand both tremble," will inva- 
riably win out. 

I heard an excellent church worker once ask 
a company of over a hundred boys to kneel in 
prayer. His motive was good, for he wished 
to impress the boys with the earnestness and 
sacredness of prayer. But it was not a tactful 
measure, for even in a well trained, generally 
orderly company of boys, there are always a 
few who will snicker on their knees. I felt the 
beauty of the prayer was lost by the disciplinary 
faux pas. 

Youthful ebullition is not always disorder, 
and it is not amiss at times to sympathize with 
the ebullient spirit of the boys. 

Acting as a substitute teacher one Sunday, I 
took charge of a class of a dozen boys about 
seventeen or eighteen years of age. They were 
fine fellows, though, of course, in the main char- 
acterized by the faults that mark real youth. 

When the Secretary of the school passed 
around the record books, I proceeded to indi- 
cate their attendance in the usual way. At the 



44 Boys' Congress of Missions 

end of the list of names was a gap and a new 
list of four names began, this group standing 
on the page by itself. I smiled as I read the 
names — four in isolation : — 

HAPPY HOOLIGAN. 
SUNNY JIM. 
SI HIGGINS. 
SIFTY ASHES. 

I turned the book over to one of the boys, re- 
marking : — 

"I haven't the honor of an acquaintance with 
these gentlemen, so you will have to mark 
them. ' ' 

He smiled and proceeded to mark their at- 
tendance, which had been faithfully and neatly 
done for the past three months. I suspected 
these last four sobriquets for certain members 
of the class, or wholly imaginary characters, 
and the boys were amused that I was willing 
to continue the fanciful record. 

In an effort to maintain order, mere diver- 
sion seldom pays. A young man who called the 
roll of our youngest Division one evening in a 
separate room, from which emanated some very 
insurrectionary sounds, had ten minutes to fill 
in after roll call. 

"What did you do?" I asked him afterwards, 
as he wiped the perspiration from his brow. 



Discipline 45 

4 ' Talked athletics — Lightbody, and Ekersall, ' ' 
he answered, with a guilty smile. 

From the noise in the room, audible through 
closed doors, I concluded that the boys had 
illustrated his talk. 

A good way to get good conduct out of a boy 
is to keep him busy. Either his mind must be 
captured, or his hands must find something to 
do. 

I admired the day-school teacher who en- 
deavored to get good behavior and good work 
out of my ten-year-old nephew by giving him 
something to do. He came home one after- 
noon with a dozen lead pencils to sharpen, and 
he whittled away in most commendable earnest. 
The teacher had given a dozen to each of three 
boys. 

"She wants me to do them well," he volun- 
teered, as I watched his chubby fingers. 

"What if do you them well?" I asked. 

"Then I can do them all the next time!" 

Mirabile dictu! Who would have thought of 
such an incentive, and yet he seemed to be do- 
ing superlative work to win the honor. 

The worst thing we do, the severest disci- 
plinary measure we take at our meetings, is to 
hand a "Member" his extradition papers for 
the evening. In less official language, we excuse 
him. That means adieu temporarily to the 



46 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

camaraderie of the boys, and to the refresh- 
ments. 

I once sent an over jovial fellow home, who 
left with such disappointment in his face that 
I wrote him a little sermon the next day and 
inclosed ten cents with which to procure an 
ice, "paying him," as I said in the sermonette, 
"not for thoughtlessness, but that he might try 
to be more helpful the next time, and thus enjoy 
good things with the crowd. " He received no 
future reproof, for we became real friends. 

On another occasion, just before a meeting, 
I wrote one of the irrepressibles who had been 
"excused" from the last meeting, promising 
him a refreshment check provided he proved 
to me that it was a physical possibility for 
him to be orderly. His conduct was fault- 
less on the experimental evening, and as he 
came to me at the close for his second check, I 
handed it to him with the statement that since 
it seemed so easy for him to be perfect when 
rewarded, he should in future have to be exem- 
plary without reward. In other words, with 
the reward only of my approbation and that of 
his conscience. 

A third instance may be briefly given. A boy, 
a very terror in one of the saloon neighbor- 
hoods, and with whom I was pretty well 
acquainted, was quietly asked to leave one even- 



Discipline 47 

ing — the first in his attendance — after he had 
tried very hard to disturb the meeting. He re- 
turned, however, for the next meeting, sat in 
the body of the house, and was perfect in 
conduct from first to last. The exile had 
awakened a purpose in him. He had determined 
to belong to something above the State Street 
democracy, and so concluded that he would bet- 
ter behave. He asked me for "a country" in 
parting, and I gave him Egypt, and requested 
him to unravel every dark problem connected 
with the once magnificent but now moribund 
monarchy. He has hardly been out of order 
since. 

But I wish to emphasize that turning boys out 
of meeting is effective only when done in the 
proper spirit — the spirit that the boy himself 
can appreciate, and not the spirit that antago- 
nizes. 

This same boy, probably a year thereafter, 
was attending night school, and could not, there- 
fore, be present at a special gathering of a few 
of our boys for the purpose of painting decora- 
tions for our walls. I was intensely pleased, 
however, over a little act on his part that even- 
ing. He stopped with us a moment on his way 
to school and handed in a box of paints — his 
own — for some boy to use who might not 
have any. He was a poor boy, and such 



48 Boys' Coistgkess of Missions 

unselfishness and consideration are remark- 
able in any boy. 

It has become current truth that it is easier 
to love bad boys and girls than depraved men 
and women, and I believe this is the Father's 
attitude, especially toward the so-called bad 
boy. He is not so bad as he is made out to be, 
and Omnipotence sees deeper than the world. 

A woman, a lover of boys, who has charge of 
the Cook County Jail Boys' Club, told how a 
storm came up one day. Everything was dark. 
The light from the gas was insufficient to read 
by, and the boys became greatly frightened. 

One of the younger ones, terror-stricken and 
with tears exclaimed : — 

"The world is coming to an end." 

To this the matron, herself puzzled over the 
sudden darkness, answered consolingly : — 

"Well, we'll just say a little prayer, and it'll 
be all right. " 

"But we won't go where you go," replied a 
boy piteously from the rear seat, in fear of the 
threatened end. 

"Yes, you will," answered the matron firmly; 
"the Father's love is limitless." 

In this connection, I find no more pertinent 
or beautiful thought than that expressed by Dr. 
Maltbie Davenport Babcock in the following : — 

"The lives of St. Augustine ; of John Newton ; 



Discipline 49 

of Jerry McAuley ; prove that the God of trans- 
mutation, who taught us to bring brilliant dyes, 
healing remedies, exquisite perfumes, from 
waste coal-tar, can transform character that is 
put in his hands and make a repudiated past 
thrillingly vital in the sympathy and pity, 
fidelity and love, of a beautiful and fruitful 
future. ' ' 

It is our interest in and love for these merry, 
wayward boys which makes us more tolerant 
often than is good for them or for us. And yet, 
how keenly we feel their absence or their loss ! 

I found it necessary to take severe dis- 
ciplinary measures one evening with a muscular, 
buoyant fellow I dearly loved. Shortly after- 
wards, under other circumstances, I saw a ball 
describe a curve through the air, falling just 
a little short of a player who proved to be my 
young errant friend. 

He reached, leaping high to get it, and came 
down with the ball in his hands, but falling fiat 
on his stomach. He laughed lightly as he fell, 
but the fall was a heavy thud, and suggested 
injury to his vital organs. 

" Mercy !" I cried, "did you hurt yourself ?" 

"No," he answered rolling over, "I have a 
heavy sweater on." 

As he rose, he stepped backward a few feet, 
and then seemed to reel a little, then stepped 



50 Discipline 

still farther back, and steadied himself against 
a maple sapling. 

The right side of his face, which was partially 
turned toward me, was bleeding, for his cheek 
was scraped as with a shingle. The left side, 
which was fully visible, was growing white, his 
lips became pallid, and there were dark circles 
beneath, and a deadly look in his eyes. 

I saw him drop against the tree and sink back- 
ward to the ground. 

"He is dying !" I cried, and then rushed 
frantically toward him. 

They took him home on a stretcher. I touched 
his cold brow, and in doing so, with a shudder, 
and in agony, I awoke. I had been asleep, and 
the fatal ball game was a mere dream, and re- 
covering my own full consciousness, what bliss 
there was in the unreality ! 

I was devoutly thankful when I met him 
again that he was still the muscular, buoyant 
fellow of the past, and that he still had before 
him perhaps precious years in which to redeem 
mistakes. 



ATTENDANCE 




The boys early showed hopeful interest in 
the matter of attendance. I remember one even- 
ing, a delightful night, except that the weather 
was a little severe for the 
younger members, that the 
snow, the first of the season, 
was falling thick and fast. 
It was with difficulty that 
I fought my way through, 
accompanied by the Mem- 
ber from the Indian Ter- 
ritory, and the Member 
from Venezula, the latter having joined 
the month before, the two constituting them- 
selves, as it were, a committee on transpor- 
tation. They bundled the flags under their 
arms and made the way as lively as possible 
by sliding in the snow on the walks. They 
were faithful little attendants, and deserved 
whatever entertainment was in store for 
them. 

Ice cream was a little cold for the night, but 
it slipped down the throats of all — of the mem- 

51 



52 Boys' Congress of Missions 

bers from the cold regions as well as the mem- 
bers from the tropics. 

The Member from Borneo had to work late, 
and came lurking along in the dark on his way 
home when we were on onr way to the meet- 
ing. "Brazil," the boys declared in their street 
vernacular, was "weak in the knees," which I 
was told meant that he was too lazy to stir out. 
However, "Brazil" had done a hard day's 
work, and as the night was cold, he could not 
be induced again to go out, boy he was, not- 
withstanding. "Chile" had been ill, but hav- 
ing returned with recovered health, was pre- 
sented with a rose for his buttonhole. ' ' Hawaii ' ' 
had studies — school studies — which he had to 
prepare, and as he had a very high sense of 
honor in his day school, he felt he had to give 
up pleasure for work, and so called at my home 
at the dinner hour to inform me of his in- 
ability to attend. "Turkey" was sick and 
could not go out. 

When the meeting was over, the Member from 
Anam called after me, "Guess we won't have 
ice cream next time ; too cold to eat it ! " all the 
time hoping we should have, and saying what 
he did only to settle the vexed question of re- 
freshments for the next night, and to enjoy the 
pleasures of anticipation for a season. 

One young fellow's interest in the organiza- 



Attendance 53 

tion was manifested by asking seriously at the 
close of a meeting, "Da'st girls come too?" He 
possibly had a small sister in mind, and we 
were sorry we could only give her a seat in 
the "Visitors' Gallery." 

The per cent of membership in attendance 
was encouraging all the way along, and the 
statement of the Eeporter once was, "The boys 
who tempt pneumonia by coming out, always 
feel well repaid." 

One of the larger boys, a trying fellow and 
with many outside interests, nevertheless 
showed his devotion to the organization by 
writing me at one time this little note: — 

"I received the B. C. M. notice to-day. Some- 
thing always occurs on that night. As you 
know, our pastor is going to leave us next 
Sunday, and a reception is to be given Friday 
night, and I have to be present. I will try to 
be over at the meeting for a short time, but 
please do not remove my name from the roll. ' ' 

After the first seven years of the existence of 
the organization one of the original ten mem- 
bers was left. Most of the boys had moved 
away, a few entered the older organizations of 
the church, and one was called to his eternal 
Home. The last of the original ten left for an 
eastern college, and at his last meeting was 
awarded a medal bearing as an inscription his 



54 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

name, the initials of the organization, and his 
years of membership. Though it gave us sor- 
row to part with him, there was pleasure in 
conferring the slight honor and in his pros- 
pect of greater educational advantages. 




WALL DECORATIONS OF THE B. C. M. 




DECORATIONS 



We decided at the start to have appropriate 
decorations, and an effort was made to adorn 
the walls of our meeting place with all manner 
of fit devices. The flags of the various conn- 
tries represented by the boys were essential, of 
course, and we devoted ourselves assiduously 
to the task of making them. An unabridged 
dictionary, variously colored cambric, and some 
necessary paints, constituted our resources, 
and we soon had very brilliant mural adorn- 
ments. 

The Persian lion, over which we had worked 
hard and intricately, and whose head always 
seemed too large for his body, somehow got 
away, greatly to our grief, for the market has 
produced no such lion since. We had loaned it 
in a generous moment, and it never reappeared. 
The white Siamese elephant was severely criti- 

55 



56 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

cised, being variously likened to a pig or a cow, 
and from trunk to tail did not escape the cal- 
umny of the boys. But it has withstood all 
satire and vicissitudes, and still looks sleepily 
through its small eyes from its place on the 
wall. But these original flags have been sup- 
planted and supplemented by many others, the 
small price of such flags to-day putting them 
easily within reach. 

One of the first wall devices, which we still 
use, was a large strip of orange colored bunting 
bearing the words, 

" Boys' Congkess of Missions." 

To this we have added a fine orange and black 
pennant bearing the initials, 

"B. C. M.," 

similar to the regulation college pennant. 

The pulpit is decorated with a series of very 
small flags which were originally worn on the 
lapels of the coats by the boys represent- 
ing those countries. The increased attend- 
ance, however, has made this custom imprac- 
ticable. 

A bright red strip of bunting, bearing the 
words in black and white, "Visitors' Gallery/ ' 



Decokations 57 

finds its place monthly on the wall, and to 
its location we relegate big and little people 
who honor us with their presence. Several 
sets of girls from missionary 
organizations paid us a visit, / a x^ ls t ~r -p ^ 
and the Reporter, comment- / i^^iT t -p/pa^ 
ing on this delightful social 
innovation, wrote: — 

"The girls seem to be taking advantage of 
leap year, as this is the second delegation of 
girls which has been in our * gallery' within two 
months. ' ' 

Another effective and helpful wall decoration 
is a long string of pennants of every color, each 
inscribed with the name of a Christian hero, 
usually a missionary whose life we have re- 
viewed and considered from time to time. 
Among these may be mentioned — and their 
names are ever before us — Livingstone, Carey, 
and Judson; Martin and Mackay; Titus Coan, 
old black Bishop Crowther, and the immortal 
Gardiner. With all these names, and more, we 
have become familiar, and all have furnished 
us inspiration to usefulness and higher, holier 
living. One of the last pennants that have been 
added is that of Dr. Eijnhart, of Tibet, whose 
story of her struggles in those superb mountain 
fastnesses discounts anything in the realm of 
fancy. 




58 Boys' Congress of Missions 

The life of " Chinese'' Gordon, the British 
general and Christian hero, was also studied, 
and in our gallery of pennants he has been en- 
rolled among the saints and the immortals. We 
could not resist the temptation of taking up 
the life of that great Christian general, so we 
followed him through the Tai-ping Rebellion 
and back to England; through Egypt and 
India; through Palestine, the land of his 
Master; and when he fell in Khartoum, an ex- 
ample of self-forgetfulness, constancy, heroism 
— an example of superlative moral splendor — 
I am certain every member of the Boys' 
Congress was stirred to admiration and imi- 
tation. 

When we look at these bits of yellow and 
white and red and green, and we remember 
that there were few encouraging bugle notes 
on their foreign fields of battle, we are 
thrilled by their sacrifice, and our hearts 
yearn to perpetuate the work so magnificently 
begun. 

We have a large picture effectively done on 
cloth in black and white, painted by a 
friend, representing the cemetery in Uganda 
where the missionaries are buried. There 
are dark shadows in the landscape, but 
gleaming white crosses to mark the mounds 
of the missionaries. The combination of 



Decorations 59 

pennants and picture invariably suggests 
that 

1 i They climbed the dizzy steep to heaven, 
'Mid peril, toil, and pain, 
O God, to us may grace be given 
To follow in their train.' ' 

We bring into requisition everything sug- 
gestive of other regions, and instructive of their 
needs and their interests. We have a map of 
the world, separate maps of countries made by 
the boys, some very excellent indeed, pictures 
showing comparative parishes, a series of 
Tibetan pictures on cloth, a little white Korean 
" Sunday' ? flag, Japanese flags and hats and 
architecture, a triangle showing comparatively 
the religions of the world, and many diagrams 
of a statistical nature. These decorations are 
not only useful and decorative for us, but are 
loaned to others on suitable occasions. 

One collection of pictures on cloth may be 
mentioned more specifically. Several winters 
ago we decided to have types of the people of 
various countries. These were industriously 
labored over for many evenings, and very won- 
derful creatures were evolved by the boys. Ac- 
cordingly, we have a Samoan girl in a boat on 
the beach, dainty Japanese ladies, a cunning 
Chinese boy, a Cuban warrior, a Macabebe 
scout, an African chief with his wife, who killed 



60 Boys' Congeess of Missions 

eighty in a raid and ate several of them, only a 
few years ago, and in addition to picturesque 
and barbarous types we have some more highly 
civilized. 

All these add brightness and festiveness to 
the meeting, and before the meeting they prove 
a source of interest to the boys as they wander 
about awaiting the moment of commencement. 



"Delve away beneath the surface, 
There is treasure farther down,- 

Keep a-pluggin' away. 
Let the rain come down in torrents, 
Let the threat *ning heavens frown, 

Keep a-pluggin' away. 
When the clouds have rolled away, 
There will come a brighter day 
All your labors to repay,- 

Keep a-pluggin* away.** 




^p^ 



ROLL CALL 



It was not a task to inspire self-confidence to 
propose to the boys originally the organization 
of a mission study class, and the matter was 
tenderly attacked. In the choice of the name, 
however, it was decided that each boy should 
represent a country, should be a "Member" 
from that country (to use a congressional 
term), and should be responsible from time to 
time at the roll call for news items — geo- 
graphical, political, educational, or religious — 
regarding that country. Accordingly, we had a 
"Member from Japan," a "Member from 
Brazil," a "Member from Borneo " (who, by 
the way, after a few years became tired of his 
unprogressive country, and was married), and 
as the "Congress" grew, we had "Members" 
from all quarters of the globe. 

A new country is assigned to each boy at the 
beginning of each year. As the boys are 

63 



64 Boys' Congress of Missions 

divided into six Divisions, each country can be 
utilized six times, for the roll of each Division 
is called by itself in a separate room, fifteen 
minutes of the evening being generally allowed 
for this purpose. 

Given the proper literature for research, al- 
most any country becomes interesting, but the 
boys usually prefer the country concerning 
which information it most readily accessible. 
There is danger of the items running too much 
to war and politics, for the boy depends largely 
upon the daily paper for the readiest informa- 
tion. 

To offset this, the boys are referred to public 
library books on their countries, clippings are 
often mailed to them, good booklets — especially 
such as are not likely to be received by them 
— are clipped and the clippings given to them. 
They are instructed to pick out the most inter- 
esting statements from long articles, and to tell 
them in their own words, and in many other 
ways they are encouraged and aided in search- 
ing for roll-call items. 

My own clippings are alphabetically arranged 
from month to month, and are mailed to the 
boys with the monthly notices of the meeting. 
This is done solely for the purpose of putting 
into the boy's hands items he might not other- 
wise secure. 



Boll Call 65 

It was a member of the Chicago Boys' Club, 
a well-known organization of this city, who, 
when informed by a speaker that a man in 
India works for eight cents a day, shouted, 
' ' Scab ! ' ' Had he been a ' ' Member from India ' ' 
for a year, he might have known that, every- 
thing considered, eight cents was a kind of 
union wage there. 

I regard the roll call as very important, as 
it keeps the boy in touch for the year with the 
various interests of his country, and forms 
the link between him and the boys' organ- 
ization. 

The news item is always given by the boy 
standing, and he must say it — not read it. This 
prevents long-winded items, and also encour- 
ages an impressive delivery. 

As illustrations of responses, which are usu- 
ally brief, I may give these : — 

The Member from Tibet : ' ' Tibet is engaging 
the attention of the world just now. The capital 
of the country, Lassa, has been visited by the 
English army." 

The Member from Siam : ' i The King of Siam 
has three hundred wives and two hundred and 
thirty-six children." 

The Member from France: "The opinions 
of Eoosevelt on the strike were well received 
in the Chamber of Deputies." 



66 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

The Member from Germany was accused one 
year of knowing more about that country than 
the emperor himself. This was reportorial 
lampoon, however. 

It was intimated that the Member from the 
Philippines gained his information from "The 
Youth's Companion," and when that Member 
failed to respond one evening, some one tersely 
remarked that "The Youth's Companion' ' 
stories must have run out. 

Not all the boys who chance to be absent are 
forgetful of their countries, for one at one 
time wrote this little note in explanation: — ■ 

"Inclosed is a map of my country and a 
specimen of its architecture. I cannot be 
present to-night on account of a pressing 
engagement, but will be present the next 
time with a big enough 'item of interest' 
to make up for the three times I have been 
absent. ' ' 

The Member from Australia was obliged to 
be absent one evening, and to keep in touch, 
sent a very finely executed sketch of the coat- 
of-arms of his country. 

The Member from Patagonia always handled 
his barren theme with as much credit as his 
resources permitted. 

Some of the items are intensely interesting, 
though occasionally we are justified in accus- 



Roll Call 67 

ing Members of laziness. This was once the 
case of a certain Member from Turkey. He 
gave us the startling information that Miss 
Stone, a foreign missionary, had been captured 
by brigands. 

The next month he informed us, "Miss Stone 
has not been released." 

The next month, "Miss Stone has not yet been 
released. ' ' 

The fourth month, ditto. 

The fifth month, "Miss Stone has been re- 
leased." 

For his sake and ours we felt relieved. 

The original Member from the Indian Terri- 
tory, true to his migratory instincts, had a 
habit of leaving his chair during the meet- 
ing, and we had often to bring him back to 
civilization. 

When the B. C. M. was first formed, a dis- 
trict telegraph messenger was the "Member 
from Spain." It was just about the time when 
the war between the United States and Spain 
broke out, and the other congressional members 
(all American in spirit, no matter what country 
they represented), chased the Member from 
Spain around the square at the close of the meet- 
ing, greatly to the injury of his Spanish dignity. 
The Member from Spain vowed he would never 
come again. But peace was declared long be- 



68 Boys' Congbess of Missions 

fore the war was ended, and he was allowed 
to remain at the meeting and to go home un- 
molested. His missionary slogan was always 
Mark 16 : 15, and when at times the roll was 
called "by Bible verses, " that verse always 
came to his rescue. 

The Member from the Philippines, in a sum- 
mer meandering, picked up a fine Japanese flag, 
and when the September meeting came round, 
the large Japanese flag was hung ostentatiously 
over the front platform, to flaunt all evening 
in the face of the Member from Eussia. This 
the latter — to use his own language — "was 
pained to observe, and meditated a feasible plan 
to cover it up. ' ' 

When the number of boys in the organiza- 
tion was quite limited, and only one roll was 
called, there being but one Division, some little 
mark of distinction was often awarded for the 
best item. We had buttons bearing the flags of 
various nations, and such a button might fall 
to the lot of the orator. Possibly, a booklet of 
an interesting character was the reward, and 
once the Member from obscure Samoa captured 
such an honor. The good things were awarded 
by ballot, and the boys were always fair in their 
awards. It might be only a rose for a button- 
hole, or a pencil with a suspicious jewel at the 
end, and though they were incentives at the time, 



Roll Call 69 

the custom has been superseded by a credit 
system, which is explained later. 

Some one has said that people usually asso- 
ciate a "Chinaman with a laundry, a Japanese 
with a finely decorated fan, and a Russian with 
a bearskin and exile ; ' ' but this narrow, national 
view is soon effaced from the boy's mind by 
the broader facts. Dr. Pierson says that "facts 
are the fingers of God. To know the facts of 
modern missions is a necessary condition to 
intelligent interest," and these modern mis- 
sion facts are best appreciated after a 
general knowledge of the country has been 
obtained. 

In many ways the interest in the various 
countries of the world is kept up. Letters are 
received from friends abroad, and portions are 
occasionally read to the boys; stamps from 
foreign countries are dispensed as they happen 
to come our way; souvenirs or curios, inciden- 
tally received, are given to the Members whose 
countries are represented by the curios. They 
may be a Queen Louise, of Germany, shells 
from Manila Bay, nuts from China, etc., etc. 
All impress the young mind and create interest. 
Sometimes a clipping of special importance, 
come across during the month, is read by 
the leader, and when a year's information 
is digested, the world seems very small 



70 Boys' Congress of Missions 

and it becomes very evident that God is 
everywhere. 

"This is my Father 's world; 
Wherever I may roam; 
Whatever my lot, it matters not, 
My heart is still at home. 

"This is my Father's world; 
Oh, let me not forget, 
That tho' the wrong seems oft so strong, 
God is the ruler yet! " 

Foreign countries are interesting as to their 
people, their customs, their governments, and 
certainly, as a rule, as to their natural scenery, 
and it is a sad fact that where nature is odorous, 
opulent, and riotous, and where the sunshine is 
brightest, the intellect and soul have a monopoly 
of darkness. We see boys and girls, dark- 
skinned, unattractive in feature, and scantily 
clad; men and women in what should be the 
prime of life, but with every evidence of pre- 
maturity in face and bearing and attire; old 
men and women, craving the protection and 
gentleness of the young, left alone on a friend- 
less and homeless road to eternity. 

These things, generally speaking, do not ap- 
peal to children, nor should they from certain 
healthful viewpoints. The perfect child-nature 
is fascinated by perfection — a beautiful counte- 
nance, which means expression perhaps more 



Boll Call 71 

than feature, beautiful garments, beautiful 
environment. When these are wanting, other 
strong reasons must operate to bring the subject 
within the range of sympathy. However, quot- 
ing from a distinguished editor, when a boy "be- 
gins to see how the whole history of the world 
is linked together, and is God's way of building 
up humanity and serving humanity, as he gets 
this large view and enters into it, life is enriched 
and becomes itself the minister whereby love is 
enlarged and conscience is strengthened, the 
school wherein he is educated out of the lower 
into the higher. He has now risen, or is rising, 
from that which is mortal into that which is im- 
mortal and eternal. ' J 

Some years ago, Korea was a mere name in 
my mind, but in a mission study class, the sub- 
ject was assigned to me ; the Korean legation was 
visited, a map was drawn, a sketch in "The 
Missionary Review" was perused, a few vital 
articles regarding the country were assimilated, 
when lo, the Hermit Kingdom blossomed into 
real beauty, both for political purposes here, and 
to furnish recruits for a higher kingdom. 

I have never been to the Golden Gate, or to 
southern France, or to Italy, but I should love 
to visit each. "Why? Because I know of their 
beauty. It is not a myth. It already exists in 
my mind and in reality. Given a knowledge of 



72 Boys' Congress of Missions 

nature in foreign countries, and of the value of 
the soul, may not the boy find charm and fas- 
cination in tropical beauty, and ia dark-skinned 
immortality? 

"Fiat lux et lux erat," is a good statement 
to remember in connection with boys at home 
and darkness beyond, and light on the boy's 
mind will eventually throw light on minds 
abroad. Finsen proved that there are certain 
diseases that only light can cure; that is true 
in the moral as well as in the physical world. 

It was Derby Day in Washington Park. 
Splendid equipages were driving by filled with 
gorgeously dressed ladies and smartly attired 
men. A little boy, scarcely five, rushed by me 
as if his heart would break. In his dark blue 
serge, white collar, and tiny red cap, he might 
have been a diminutive jockey himself. 

He wept bitterly and would not be comforted 
until a kind man took him by the hand and 
then into his great, strong arms. A few girls, 
interested in the fate of the little lost fellow, 
followed close on the man's heels. Soon a 
woman, with hair down and grief-stricken 
look, was seen wildly running in every direc- 
tion, and we instantly divined that the woman 
was his mother. 

She, could hardly be intelligently directed in 
her search, for, in her agony she had lost her 



Boll Call 73 

self-control. Presently, however, she reached 
the lad, and it was difficult to tell which re- 
joiced the more at the meeting — the mother or 
the son. The tears were dried, peace stole into 
the little fellow's heart, and satisfaction spread 
over the tear-stained features. 

May not many an earthly child — Indian, 
Bussian, African, Pole — be agonizing to-day 
because he cannot find the rest and peace so 
richly promised? There is nothing exclusive 
about the divine invitation, "Come unto Me." 
It is universal in its import and its benefits, and 
to this universality and beneficence even a boy 
is not insensible. 




PENNANTS OF MISSIONARIES, MADE BY THE B. C. M, 



OFFERINGS 



An offering for home and foreign mission 
work is taken at each meeting, and in this par- 
ticular there is evident a sense of honor and dnty 
among the boys. They are 
thus early taught, too, to 
give for the purpose of being 
helpful to others, and to 
share their own money with 
those less favored, and thus 
to have a part in extending 
the blessings of their own 
country within and without 
its borders. 

The average boy appreciates the generosity 
of the African when he gives his "kanks" and 
cowrie shells to foreign missions, and a whole- 
hearted, natural, informed, American boy will 
do as well. Teach the boy to give, and the man 
will not forget the lesson. Begging for charity 
will be unnecessary; the mere statement of a 
need will be sufficient to receive pecuniary re- 
sponse. 

The Floor Committee, consisting of six boys 

75 




76 Boys' Congress of Missions 

wearing badges inscribed "Floor Committee," 
takes up the offering on plates specially made 
for the purpose. Originally, the receptacles used 
for this purpose were boxes from China, a bam- 
boo vase from the Philippines, and such other 
little foreign things which we had picked up or 
which had been given us by interested friends. 
But these have been superseded by good-sized 
wooden plates, painted an orange color, and 
bearing inside, in black, large initials — B. C. 
M. — the combination thus representing the or- 
ganization colors. 

For several years we have sung this song 
during the taking of the offering : — 

"We thank thee, O our Father, 

For this bright world to-day; 
For sunshine, birds, and flowers, 

To brighten all our way; 
And now we bring our off 'ring, 

Our hands to work for thee; 
Our hearts' best love, our lives, ourselves, 

Thine evermore to be. '* 

The money is turned over to the treasurer, 
who takes care of it until five or more dollars 
are accumulated, and from time to time appro- 
priations are made to good causes presented to 
the boys, or which come under their notice. 

I remember on one occasion when the treas- 
urer had been instructed to bring the money in 



Offerings 77 

order that we might make use of a certain sum 
that evening, that, boy-like, he forgot his in- 
structions and came with a good report but 
no money. The B. C. M. Reporter put the 
irregularity in print in this manner: "The 
treasurer was present with a report but no 
money, and we have decided to appoint a de- 
tective to shadow his movements. He reports 
about fifteen dollars in the treasury. " 

We had a small metal bank at one time, such 
as was furnished the public generally by a large 
banking concern, and one year, by depositing 
our offerings as they were received, we drew a 
little interest. We concluded, however, to make 
more frequent appropriations, and hence dis- 
continued our diminutive interest system. 

Our organization having become interde- 
nominational in character, we appropriate our 
funds along no narrow denominational lines. 
Various sums have been voted to Baptist, 
Christian, Presbyterian, and other denomina- 
tional work, and to some causes wholly unde- 
nominational but philanthropic. The object 
toward which the money is to go is always 
clearly presented to the boys, and at times at 
some length, if the subject is specially interest- 
ing. When an occasional five-dollar bill was 
to go toward Porto Rican hospital work, 
sketches of that work, of the country, and of 



78 Boys' Congress of Missions 

its needs were taken up by the boys. Persia, 
Africa, Tibet, and many other countries have 
come in for their share; social settlement in- 
terests in our own city have had gifts, and the 
church sexton has not been forgotten, receiving 
an occasional five-dollar bill — our candid opin- 
ion sometimes being five dollars for twenty-five 
dollars' worth of trouble, for he keeps a con- 
stant and vigilant eye on our belongings and 
interests. 

Nickels and dimes are contributed from time 
to time by the boys toward a "Flower Fund," 
—flowers for the sick of the organization. The 
sum given annually is never large, but thus far 
it has always been larger than our needs. The 
monthly notices often call for names of sick, but 
the flower fund treasurer has been almost out of 
business, for the boys in toto are provokingly 
well. 

In only one instance last year was the flower 
treasurer justified in spending a portion 

of his well hoarded silver. Ed M was 

reported ill one Sunday — laid up in bed with 
a sprained ankle. Ed was a mischievous, 
never serious, ever smiling youth of seventeen, 
who even at his age should have had a few 
sober moments. 

"If he does not work to-morrow, Alvin," said 
I to the flower committee, "take him a generous 



Offerings 79 

bunch of first-class carnations, and take your 
car fare out of the fund besides. ' ' 

Seeing Alvin a few days later, I asked: — 

"Did you take Ed some flowers?" 

"Yes'm." 

"Was he still in bed?" 

"No, he was out in the lot playing ball, but 
he was standing awful still in the gamel" 

Even with a sprained ankle Ed's gayety did 
not desert him, but the different kind of smile 
when I next saw him and the cordial "Thank 
you," made me feel that our grip on him 
through the flowers had tightened. 



MUSIC 



Good music is a most desirable feature of 
a good meeting, and boys, under the right 
inspiration, can sing unsurpassed. Ordinarily, 
in a meeting such as ours, 
where little time can be given 
to music, a director would 
not be requisite for a com- 
pany under fifty in number, 
but for organizations over 
that number, he is a great 
help. But he must be an in- 
centive, not a gag. One can 
easily secure a competent 
precentor for occasional 
evenings, or for several 
months, but it is exceedingly 
difficult to procure one who will stand by the boys 
through thick and thin, year in and year out. 

We have been using song sheets of our own 
compilation. At first, they were typewritten, 
but with the present number in attendance, they 
have been, regularly printed — two and four 
songs on a sheet so they may be varied. 

81 




82 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

Among the songs we like best, is the one, "All, 
yes, all, I give to Jesus." This the boys sing 
specially well when they sing it at their best, 
and there is in the combined boyish voices a 
pathos which is touching and impressive. 
"Stand up, stand up for Jesus," is rendered 
with vigor, for the soldier element in it ap- 
peals to boy nature. This is true also of "On- 
ward, Christian Soldiers, ' ' and when at the last 
meeting that hymn was sung to the accompani- 
ment of an outside band of twenty picked boy 
players, nothing more enthusiastic from a com- 
pany of boys could be expected. There was 
martial vim from first to last, and Sullivan's 
song had proper interpretation. 

It was Bobby, you remember, who sang very 
feebly, "I want to be an angel," thereby ex- 
pressing his unwillingness in his healthy young 
years to wear wings and white, but no such 
risk is encountered in "Stand up for Jesus," 
or the Christian soldier hymn. 

"Whistling by all or part may be tried with 
success, and it helps to vary the musical pro- 
gramme of the evening. The boys have learned 
to sing, "Jesus loves me," in Chinese, and on 
the " Yesso go ge wing quah" strain, they always 
come in strong. However, only the foreign ele- 
ment in the monosyllabic jingle appeals to them. 

One of our own boys, a B. C. M. "graduate" 



Music 83 

from the standpoint of age, has assisted sub- 
stantially with his voice for several years, and 
a friend has added to the musical attraction 
with a cornet. A boys' organization of goodly 
size as a rule embraces real talent, and piano, 
violin, and vocal solos and duets have been fur- 
nished by the boys. The numbers are usually 
creditable, but they are chiefly valuable as giv- 
ing the boys something to do. Our young direc- 
tor recently whistled, to piano accompaniment, 
the Intermezzo from "Cavalleria Eusticana," 
and it was voted a success by the boys' critic — 
the Eeporter. 

A few years ago, knowing of excellent voices 
in the organization, I thought it well to form a 
quartet among the boys. Accordingly, I selected 
a small boy with a superb soprano voice, a tall 
youth with a fair tenor, and an alto and a bass 
differing from the others in physical size and 
musical quality. 

There was little time for practice, in conse- 
quence of which the Eeporter found material 
for his ever facile pen. I shall give the history 
of the quartet as it appeared in our church 
paper from month to month among the B. C. M. 
notes. 

This was the Eeporter 's first mention of the 
innovation : — 

" A quartet has been formed of the four vocal 



84 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

lights of the ' Congress, ' namely, Messrs. M , 

H , A , and V . We expect to see 

a marked improvement in the song service in 
consequence. ? ' 

A month later: — 

"Our quartet had never before been up for 
inspection, and we were pleased to note that the 
members were of assorted sizes, and therefore 
did not present the sameness that such bodies 
usually do." 

Still later:— 

6 ' Our quartet is rapidly becoming an unknown 
quantity, and for the last two months we have 
seen or heard nothing of them, our friend from 

Tibet, Mr. H M , being the only one to 

keep the quartet before our minds. Is the 
quartet asleep, or is skating good?" 

Lastly, came this reportorial knell: — 

"The writer took a pair of field glasses to 
the meeting and eagerly scanned the horizon 
for some traces of the quartet. There were none 
to be seen, however, and he infers from this 
that it is up to him to get out his little hammer 
and do some knocking." 

Outside friends are always ready to assist 
boys, and many have musically elevated and 
entertained the B. C. M. in its period of exist- 
ence. Here and there a singer, sweet, tender, 
soulful in interpretation, anon jolly, mundane. 



Music 85 

but wholesome; sometimes a song during the 
programme hour, sometimes at the close, when 
the desideratum of desiderata — refreshments — 
was reached — all these have helped to make a 
delightful missionary evening, and to all of these 
the boys are indebted for instructive and enjoy- 
able hours. 



M Christ for the world we sing ; 
The world to Christ we bring 

With loving zeal ; 
The poor and them that mourn, 
The faint and overborne, 
Sin-sick and sorrow-worn, 

Whom Christ doth heal. 

! ' Christ for the world we sing ; 
The world to Christ we bring 

With fervent prayer ; 
The wayward and the lost, 
By restless passions tossed, 
Redeemed at countless cost 
From dark despair." 



SPEAKERS 



In the early days of our "Congress," when 
the band of boys numbered from ten to fifty, 
it was not customary to have an address as a 
part of the programme. In- 
stead, about fifteen minutes 
of the evening were given 
to the consideration of the 
life of some missionary, some 
statesman, some soldier, or 
some other person who had 
been a factor in the world's 
development; usually, how- 
ever, the subject was a mis- 
sionary. 

The ideal of most boys is probably a great 
general or warrior, but 

"Tell them not all the valiant 
Lived in the ages fled; 
For ours is the day of missions, 
Nor yet are the heroes dead." 

The lives of the missionaries furnish in- 
structive and thrilling material for fifteen min- 
ute discussions or narrations. A pennant of 

89 




90 Boys' Coistgeess of Missions 

cloth bearing the name of the missionary or 
other hero was always put up (and is yet), and 
the string of pennants grew from month to 
month, until it became interesting in length, in 
color, and in legend. 

Sketches of Livingstone, Carey, Judson, and 
many others were read, and were thought over 
and talked over, and there seemed not a dull 
line in their lives. Allen Gardiner, who lies 
buried at the southern extremity of South 
America, where the hurricanes raise a requiem 
to his memory, was the special theme one even- 
ing, and his heroic struggle and death in 
the neglected continent thrills boys of to-day 
with undying effect. And Gardiner's life is 
but one of many to awaken reflex heroism. 
The lives of most missionaries, when rightly 
presented — with a syllabus possibly, a pen- 
nant on the wall, and tact in the culling of 
facts — become historical realities in the minds 
of the boys, and the stories of heroism are there 
to stay. 

As the number of boys grew, the programme 
was varied, and it was thought advisable to 
procure speakers from time to time. Friends 
traveled and brought home curios. These 
latter sometimes formed the basis for bright 
talks. 

Sometimes, friends abroad sent curios, and 



Speakees 91 

one with ready speech would then be asked to 
exhibit them and to discourse on them. Per- 
sons with a quasi-public career helped us out, 
and varied and profitable evenings were spent 
in these ways. But Chicago is resourceful, and 
as our number continued to grow we turned our 
attention to its institutions, to its pastors, and 
to the Board rooms. Accordingly, short ad- 
dresses were decided upon, and the theme of 
the evening was presented in such a manner 
as to interest the average boy. As the youngest 
boys have the usual juvenile tendency to get 
sleepy, we request short addresses, unless the 
addresses are varied with curios or tales that 
never tire. Phraseology and thought are 
adapted to the boy of about fifteen, and the 
younger fellows must pick up what they can, 
for our purpose is to reach the genuine, aver- 
age boy with great ambitions and high flights 
of fancy and boyish philosophy. 

Moody Bible Institute has nearly always on 
its roster students from foreign countries, re- 
turned missionaries, and visitors of distinction. 
To this institute, we have turned many times 
for years for speakers. With many of them we 
have taken picturesque trips through foreign 
countries. As may be fancied, some as guides 
have looked at the bright side of life, some at 
its more sober coloring; but each, with a mes- 



92 Boys' Congress of Missions 

sage straight from the heart and from the 
throne, found attentive auditors in the boys. 

"We recall a native Armenian's talk on the 
distinctions between Turk and Armenian, his 
descriptions of the massacres and the causes 
leading to them, his recitals fresh from the 
scenes described, and as his pale face caught 
the glow of his spirit afire, there was breathless 
stillness in the room, and the cause of Armenia 
had new exponents. 

Australia, with its fine cricket games, its 
tales of the boomerang and vanishing blacks, 
has interested the boys, and many would listen 
for hours. 

With these speakers we have crossed Cuba 
under the leadership of a soldier missionary, 
we have been charmed with the quaint little 
people, the little islands, and the little streams 
of Japan, and we have at times threaded the 
dark streets of our own Chicago in the interests 
of rescue work. 

The Central Chinese Mission furnished its 
enthusiastic representatives to advocate the 
cause of Chinese missions in Chicago, and I 
remember that at the close of one address the 
wag of wags of the Boys' Congress of Missions 
was so much impressed that he begged the boys 
be allowed to give all their money to that cause; 
and, indeed, he would have given his personal 



Speakeks 93 

coin for the reformation of any Chinaman in 
sight. 

The University of Chicago and McCormick 
Seminary have both been represented among 
the speakers. With one we traveled through 
Burma, and with the other through Syria, 
lingering with the latter especially around 
Beirut. 

When a missionary from Japan spoke to us, 
the boys gave her banzai by the waving of lit- 
tle white Japanese napkins. The Japanese flag 
was unfurled that evening, and a curious Jap- 
anese hat, given us by a relative, was brought 
into requisition. 

Manila, Mexico, Madeira, India many times, 
Niagara with a delightful local pastor, and 
Palestine through the eyes of a gifted native 
— all have been visited through the medium of 
oratory, and all have won our interest and our 
heart. With a former sailor Sunday-school 
superintendent the boys sailed before the mast 
to India, and the lessons of the sea were more 
fascinating to the boys than those of the land. 
The two addresses on Africa, by Mr. Willis E. 
Hotchkiss, will be remembered by the boys per- 
haps as long as they live. 

It may be said here that one eminent in church 
work and experienced in addressing boys, who 
spoke to the B. C. M. on India, commented on 



94 Boys' Congress of Missions 

the look of interest on the faces of the boys in 
contradistinction to the look of tolerance on the 
faces of most boys when missions is the theme, 
and he remarked further that this was due no 
doubt to their education along the line. 



EEFEESHMENTS 



Ever since Eliot carried little cakes in his 
pockets with which to capture the friendship 
of his juvenile Indian parishioners, and Dr. 
Paton won the favor of old 
Chief Namakei, his first con- 
vert, with a cup of tea, I have 
felt specially justified in serv- 
ing refreshments at our boys' 
meetings. At the close of the 
meeting, when these make their 
appearance, the missionary 
barometer appreciably rises, 
and for more reasons than one 
the members are glad they 
came. 

Often the refreshments are heralded in the 
monthly notices. These may state that "per- 
haps the ice cream man will be around," 
or "refreshments from the polar regions 
are anticipated." Sometimes, but rarely, the 
popular frigid dish is supplemented by little 
cakes or fudges, which latter, in the estima- 
tion of the young "foreigners" always perfect 

95 




96 Boys' Costgkess of Missions 

the evening. Such inconsiderable things as 
candy canes, as souvenirs at the Christmas 
meeting, are not spurned even by the oldest, 
and, in short, all gustatory surprises find 
ready appreciation. 

The Member from Chile was ill one day, and 
the Member from Venezuela packed a good box 
of eatables to help him toward a speedy 
recovery. It was feared that both the size of 
the box and its hazardous contents might prove 
fatal, but true to a boy's dietary invulnerability, 
the Member from Chile soon joined the ranks 
of the restored. 

The Member from Siam confided to the Re- 
porter that he "had been laid up" the day 
after a certain meeting as a result of imbibing 
the frozen delicacy. The Reporter, comment- 
ing on this rather remarkable outcome, stated 
that it was " evident that the tropical constitu- 
tions of the Siamese are unable to withstand 
the strain imposed upon them by that delectable 
article which is so popular in our climate." 

Sometimes, these self-same refreshments help 
to decide difficult questions. I remember that 
at one time several young visitors were present. 
They were invited, in the usual way, to join, 
if they wished, but one demurred. The refresh- 
ments at the close clinched the matter, however. 
He decided forthwith to join, and was not un- 



Refkeshments 97 

willing to espouse the cause of any savage 
country whatever. 

One evening, some miscreants from the street 
appropriated every brick of cream that had 
been laid in store for the boys. Great as was 
the disappointment of the boys, the Reporter's 
philosophical comment on this was that there 
was no loss without some gain, the gain in this 
instance being that the boys did not have to 
wash the dishes. He added, however, with true 
boyish vindictiveness that he hoped that all 
who had participated in the raid were suffer- 
ing from indigestion. 

The boys on this occasion had an offer from 
an "experienced" detective (a very mild man- 
nered visitor), to track the villains to earth, 
using the phraseology of the Reporter. This 
detective even offered his services free, and 
then the Reporter added with fine irony: "We 
are thinking of taking him up. He wishes to 
keep his identity secret, but his initials are 
A. A. B." Bursting into youthful fire, he con- 
cluded, "A reward of $10,000 is offered for the 
arrest and conviction of the thieves. For par- 
ticulars, apply to the Treasurer." 

Though they put their amateur Sherlock 
Holmes to work, they were unable to procure 
any information in regard to the culprits. Ac- 
cording to their version, all physicians' offices 



98 Boys' Congress of Missions 

were peacefully picketed for a month, but with 
no results. It was decided to appoint a com- 
mittee of one, a boy with adequate muscular 
development, in future to sit on the freezer, but 
the sexton's key proved the actual expedient 

During the distribution of refreshments at 
the next meeting, a few adult visitors were over- 
looked, and for this the refreshment committee 
profusely apologized, attributing the oversight 
to excessive vigilance against thieves since the 
ice cream disaster. 

The subject of refreshments always furnishes 
good nature and merriment for the boys and 
the Eeporter, but most of the comments, as 
may be fancied, are mere burlesque. 

The insignificant difficulties are always ex- 
aggerated, and any success in the direction of 
outwitting the refreshment committee in pro- 
curing more than one dish is always chronicled 
— with more poetic license than historical truth, 
to be sure, this being another illustration of 
reportorial indulgence : — 

" After the meeting, Mr. C B was 

discovered consuming his second dish of ice 
cream. He endeavored to obtain a third, but 
was caught in the act and ejected from the 
kitchen by the committee. At the end of the 

meeting Mr. F S was seen leaving the 

church with the strides of a miler bearing an 



Refkeshments 99 

extra large dish, of ice cream and a church 
spoon. In closing, it may be well to state that 
we fear for the sanity of our esteemed friend, 

the Member from the Philippines, V 

Mc , who, wonderful to relate, left the 

meeting before refreshments were served." 

"Refreshments from the tropics" were the 
order of the day on one occasion, and the Re- 
porter spun this fine skit: — 

"After the meeting, the boys were presented 
with bananas. Most received one, some got 
two by working a 'pull.' The faithful services 
of the Reporter were for the first time rewarded 
when he was permitted to escape with six. 

But we feel unjustly treated, as F S , 

who is supposed to be in training, got more, 
and V Mc when last seen was consum- 
ing his ninth, and two more still remained in 
his coat pockets." 

In the light of the original purchase of 
bananas, if the Reporter's statements were 
true, the status of the bananas would have 
been that of the Russian warships — more were 
destroyed than were ever possessed. 

With one hundred or one hundred and fifty 
boys to serve, each with an unconquerable ap- 
petite for ice cream, it began to be a problem 
how to do it most systematically and most 
fairly to all. Accordingly, at the beginning of 

LOFC. 



100 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

one year I had enough checks printed — blue 
cardboard, bearing the inscription, "Befresh- 
ment Check, B. C. M.," to last during the year. 
These were to be distributed at the close of 
each meeting, no boy was to be served without 
one, and in short, all possible punctilio was to 
be observed. 

Everything seemed to pass off fairly well at 
the September meeting. At the October meet- 
ing, however, I observed that some boys were 
handing in a second check, and then the truth 
dawned upon me that some of the checks had 
not been collected or destroyed at the last 
meeting. For the November meeting, there- 
fore, I brought little squares of bright red 
cardboard, the blue having been discarded, for 
it was evident that it would always be an un- 
certain question as to how many blue checks 
from the meetings would be retained. Fancy 
the disappointment of those who had come with 
their old checks! One lad, seeing the useless- 
ness of the blue checks, handed me six of them 
at the close of the evening, saying seriously that 
he had picked them up at the October meeting. 

The next checks were green, on which occa- 
sion some of the older boys asked me good- 
humoredly what the color of the next would be. 

"Pink," I answered with much show of seri- 
ousness. 



Refreshments 101 

"Don't you believe her," said one of the boys 
facetiously, catching onto the fact that I had 
caught on; "they'll be lavender or terra cotta, 
or something like that." 

Well, the next were red, white, and blue, 
made of bits of paper of the national colors, 
and the original blue checks were forever rele- 
gated to disuse. 



CREDITS 



It was customary from the first to call the 
roll for each boy, and he was expected to re- 
spond with some item of interest regarding his 
country, and the boy's sense of 
honor and his interest in the or- 1 
ganization were the only induce- fjPi 
ments to his taking part. 

It was thought later, however, 
that it might be an additional 
incentive, and a bright feature 
in the end, to offer prizes for 
good work along several lines. Accordingly, 
credits were given for items at roll call, for an 
essay on the life of a missionary, an essay on 
the country, a map of the country, and a speci- 
men of its architecture. In the final marking, 
the ages of the boys, of course, were taken into 
consideration. 

The boys — especially the oldest — did excel- 
lent work at roll call without the special prize 
inducement ; however, during the last two years 
the roll call feature of the meeting was also 
included in the prize plan. The countries not 

103 




104 Boys' Congress of Missions 

having been assigned at the first meeting, there 
is no roll call at that meeting, and as the roll 
call is omitted from the last meeting, because of 
many special features on that evening, and as 
one credit is given for each of the eight meet- 
ings, if an item of interest is furnished at each, 
eight credits during the year may be thus 
earned. 

Last year, a sketch of the life of John G. 
Paton was required. A syllabus was prepared, 
the topics were elaborated on, the boy writing 
from memory — at home — and basing his essay 
on the outline put into his hand. Quite a num- 
ber of the boys also read along the line of 
Paton 's life in books procured from friends or 
from libraries. 

In the essay on John Gr. Paton, and on the 
country, the boys were marked on the general 
appearance of the essay, on its length, its lan- 
guage, its thought, and its religion, the last 
topic implying merely in brief what Dr. Paton 
had accomplished for the civilization of the 
islands and for the kingdom, or a few important 
facts in regard to the religious history of a 
country. 

One of the boys, a Catholic, wrote an excel- 
lent essay on the life of the great missionary, 
but his guarded statements as to what Protest- 
antism had done for the islands, and also as to 



Ceedits 105 

what had been accomplished in Cuba, "his 
country," were rather amusing. They showed 
thought on his part, however, and his loyalty 
to his own religion had to be admired. 

Another boy, from a home without spiritual 
influence, wrote an excellent paper on Dr. 
Paton, and one could not but feel that he had 
learned an immortal lesson. 

The Reporter had written on Paton the year 
before, so he was asked to write on Living- 
stone. He did his own reading and studying, 
and added this rather dignified postscript to his 
essay : — 

"The writer is indebted to Livingstone's life 
in 'The Price of Africa' for notes from which 
this essay was compiled." 

Another, the Member from Greece, not satis- 
fied with the oral presentation of Paton 's life, 
asked for books on the subject. He was a star 
among the boys — a star of the first youthful 
magnitude — and penned this note in acknowl- 
edgment of the booklets I loaned him: — 

"I sincerely thank you for sending me those 
pamphlets on the life of Paton, and I expect to 
have my paper finished in a few days." 

In referring to the sinking of the well by Dr. 
Paton, the very small Member from Africa, in- 
tending to quote the statement, "It broke the 
back of heathenism," wrote more literally, "It 



106 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

broke the back of the heathen.' ' Under some 
circumstances, even this might have been a wel- 
come denouement to Dr. Paton. 

The essays on the countries were not as orig- 
inal as those on the missionary, explained by 
the fact that the boys had recourse to books of 
a didactic character. However, they were cau- 
tioned against copying, and were encouraged to 
use their own words as much as possible. This 
was not a formidable requirement for the older 
boys, but the younger element, in their desire 
to do great work, occasionally used suspiciously 
large terms, and deep, incomprehensible sen- 
tences. 

In writing on France, his country, one of 
the youngest quite dazed me. In speaking of 
what France had lost to Germany, he stated 
that "these losses included the whole of the old 
department of the Bas-Ehine, two arrondise- 
ments with a fraction of the third of the de- 
partment of the Haut-Bhine. ' ' I immediately 
suspected that the ambitious lad had been pur- 
loining from some encyclopedia. 

Another equally zealous fellow, the Member 
from Brazil, in writing on his country, dis- 
coursed learnedly on its "metamorphic rocks,' ' 
its "gold alloyed with silver which makes mer- 
cury/ ' its "formidable navy and ironclads/ 9 
and "a loan placed by the Rothschilds, easily 



Credits 107 

negotiated, and the bonds commanding a pre- 
mium of iy 2 %." 

This diction was, of course, discouraged, and 
is quoted only to show the intellectual flights of 
the young fellows, and their labor, but less credit 
was given for this than for the straightfor- 
ward boyish language. 

The young Member from China grew very 
warm in the praise of his Christian subjects 
during the Boxer troubles, and his zeal was ap- 
parent even through his rather faulty orthog- 
raphy as he mentioned "the threats of the 
enemies.' ' The Member from Porto Rico en- 
larged upon the "seven i providences' of the 
island," while most of the boys dwelt on the 
martial prowess of their countries as an index 
of their greatness. 

"In 1880," wrote the Member from Japan, 
"Japan became open to the rest of the world 
for commerce and Christian missionaries, and 
now by the way Japan is whipping the Big 
Bear, it will soon be a world power." 

The admiration of the Member from Hawaii 
also waxed warm when he thought of Kama- 
hamea. "He was a man of great perception 
and power," he wrote, "which is shown by his 
buying ships and by his introducing firearms, 
for the purpose of waging war against the island 
people." 



108 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

The Senior Member from England worked 
hard and long over his country — hard and long 
for him — and then made the mistake (which 
was not injurious to him, however) of writing 
a whole essay on the religious history of Eng- 
land. This was supplemented later by its 
secular history, and when he had finished a 
very creditable paper, he indulged his buoyancy 
by throwing in a little French at the end by 
writing, "La Fin." He would not have been 
true to his nature without a flourish of this sort. 

The history of Greece was brought down to 
the present day by the Member from Greece, 
even the Mayor of Athens figuring in the docu- 
ment. 

Quite a little originality was displayed by 
the boys in the handling of their themes. One 
of them illustrated his essay on Dr. Paton with 
a miniature map of the New Hebrides, and the 
Member from the Philippines illuminated his 
paper in the same way. New York City was 
made interesting by a pen sketch entitled ' i Cor- 
ner Exchange Place, and Broad Street in Dutch 
Times, ' ' which represented a few little shanties, 
and which by contrast showed up finely the 
march of commercialism. In his essay on 
Livingstone, the year before, the Member from 
New York made quite a remarkable picture of a 
"Native at Livingstone's Funeral," a dusky 



Credits 109 

figure evincing real grief over the death of his 
master. 

Both in the essay on the country and on the 
missionary, the boys were reminded not to 
neglect the spiritual topic. Only a reasonable 
handling of this topic was required, however, 
and yet as the purpose of the organization is 
to put stress tactfully upon the climax of life, 
some thoughts along the line of the religious his- 
tory of a country and the accomplishments of 
a missionary were invited, to get a higher num- 
ber of credits. 

As to the maps and architecture, a few speci- 
fications were given to the boys. A uniform 
size was required, cloth had to be used, and 
ink or colors were suggested, as it was desired 
that the work should be permanent. Some 
credit was deducted if the work was done in 
pencil, or if the cloth was too large or too 
small. The quantity of labor was not lost sight 
of, though in making the map, only the prin- 
cipal features were required. Accuracy and 
artistic effect also figured in the award. 

Again a time limit was fixed, and if it was 
not observed a slight deduction was made. The 
Member from Siam at first rather scorned the 
idea of competing, but he warmed up to the 
plan, and when the last evening for the recep- 
tion of the work came round, he was seen run- 



110 Boys' Congress of Missions 

ning down the avenue with "his Siamese house 
on poles," anxious to get it in before it was 
too late. 

Occasionally, a young hopeful would write me 
a note and plead for a little more time ; and when 
the pleadings and excuses became numerous, 
the matter was laid before the organization, 
and two days of grace were allowed all de- 
linquents in which to furnish their work. When 
the time had actually all expired, as one boy 
expressed it, a " fearful and wonderful tidal 
wave of color made its appearance on the fourth 
Friday in April. " 

Many of the maps were unusually fine. The 
one of New York showed its rivers, parks, 
bridges, and drives; Greece was as delicately 
outlined as a bit of etching ; Africa was excellent 
in outline, artistic in tint, and showed up 
clearly the Cape-to-Cairo railroad; Alaska, 
which was accorded the highest honor, was 
almost perfect in coloring and detail. 

A little flag of the country often fluttered in 
the corner of the map, a touch of originality 
on the part of the Member, and all these char- 
acteristics were appreciated and credited. 

We have two colored boys in the organiza- 
tion. One of them, a boy of about thirteen, 
represented England. His map, which was to 
illustrate his essay — an original use on his part 



Credits 111 

of the map — was rather a muddy affair, his 
specimen of architecture, on the other hand, a 
very pretty picture of Anne Hathaway ? s cot- 
tage. His map of England, on cloth, showed 
scant labor, and he felt it needed explanation, 
so he told the leader of the Fifth Division that 
it was due to the fact that the bristles of his 
brush came out in making the cottage, and he 
was reduced to a common pen for the map. 

Many excellent specimens of architecture 
were handed in, but a description would be 
wearisome and a mere enumeration would not 
do justice to the work. I might mention, how- 
ever, the "Church of Theotokos at Constanti- 
nople," with its picturesque towers and 
minarets, a drawing showing much work, 
though unfortunately executed in pencil; an 
ambitious skyscraper of New York, with a most 
splendid perspective; Egyptian sphinxes, quite 
perfect in simplicity of execution ; a pretty Jamai- 
can thatched cottage, with mother and child 
entering the door, but with .gowns incomplete 
because the young artist had reached the time 
limit before the gowns were finished; pagodas 
with gay Japanese lanterns; a splendid Greek 
tomb, by a youth who took the highest prize in 
the five competitive subjects; a Hawaiian cot- 
tage, artistically quite perfect, and " Liberty 
Enlightening the World, ' ' in New York Harbor. 



112 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

"The Summer Palace of the Emperor of 
Brazil" would have done credit to a modern 
magazine. Some specimens of architecture, of 
course, were mere daubs, showing greater will- 
ingness than artistic skill; and the same may 
be said of some maps. A few of the artists, 
it is feared, might be charged with laziness, as 
they put in very few details, preferring — at 
least from the viewpoint of labor — the impres- 
sionist style. Indeed, a few might have been 
one-minute sketches, for they were so fiercely 
impressionist in their style that the grass-roofed 
houses of Polynesia might as well have rep- 
resented the peasant cottages of more civilized 
communities. 

One of the youngest boys did not know what 
was meant by a specimen of architecture, and, 
in perfect good faith, handed in the picture of 
a rampant Texas steer. This furnished a skit 
for the ever-awake Eeporter, for in the next 
number of our paper appeared this criticism : — 

"Concerning the maps and specimens of 
architecture passed in, they were of all kinds, 
from the wonderful paper, ruler and compass 
of Westminster Abbey, to the Texas steer of 
the Fifth Division. Please take notice, a Texas 
steer is a specimen of architecture." 

This year, the best of this work is to adorn 
our walls, and we shall have Hindoo temples, 



Credits 113 

Moorish balconies, rude tents, and imposing 
skyscrapers hanging side by side, and as all 
are the handiwork of the boys, the decorations 
will be doubly interesting to them. 

The finest thing about the whole credit sys- 
tem was the spirit manifested by the boys on 
the last evening, when the prizes were awarded. 

Friends had contributed, some one's and five's 
and a ten dollar bill, the ten dollars going to 
the one who earned the highest number of 
credits, a five to each of the two next highest, 
and so on down until fifteen boys were winners. 

When the first honor was announced, and the 
victor stepped down the aisle to receive the 
trophy, every boy in the house unstintingly ap- 
plauded, and this appreciation, to a greater or 
less degree, was shown toward each recipient. 
When all the money prizes had been awarded, 
half a dozen boys who had tried but failed, 
were decorated in black and orange ribbon, the 
B. C. M. colors. 

Thirteen boys, an unlucky number — though 
we are not superstitious — had fallen by the 
wayside; in other words, had done excellent 
work in four subjects, but had not accomplished 
the fifth, which was the essay on Dr. Paton. 

For the encouragement of these and the 
amusement of the rest, a Union League baseball, 
tenderly wrapped in tin foil and packed in an 



114 Boys' Congress of Missions 

irresistible red box, the finest thing of the kind 
made, was purchased, and given to one of the 
thirteen, and they were told to enjoy themselves 
the next day — which was Saturday — in a game 
with the ball. As a ball of that kind is the 
envy of every genuine, whole-souled, healthy 
boy, even the ten-dollar victor coveted the prize. 



'Well I know thy trouble, 

my servant true ; 
Thou art very weary,- 

1 was weary too ; 

But that toil shall make thee 
Some day all mine own ; 

And the end of sorrow 
Shall be near my throne/' 



ENTERTAINMENTS 



Annual entertainments have been given by 
the boys, which have always been enjoyed both 
by them and by their friends. 

The first in the history of 
the organization was what we 
called an " International 
Christmas Tree, ' ■ which 
proved novel, and in which the \ r 
boys took no little interest. 
We bought a tree and then 
came into possession of many 
beautiful ornaments from the 
tree of a wealthy family in the 
city. When a friend heard of 
our "congressional" intention, 
she remarked, "I shall per- 
suade the family that it is the 
proper time to take down the 
tree. ' ' 

So we had tinsel and angels, red beads and 
candles galore, and everything was set off beau- 
tifully by a bright new, red carpet with which 
the lecture room had just been covered. The 

117 




118 Boys' Congress of Missions 

flags of all nations made a fine display, and 
bags of tarleton — pink and yellow and green 
— filled with sweetmeats, were everywhere in- 
terspersed. 

Each member was asked to furnish some- 
thing for the tree which might be typical of 
his country, and the collection proved inter- 
esting. There were olives from Persia, rice 
from China, tea from Burma, oranges from 
Brazil, corn meal from the Indian Territory, 
sugar from Cuba, coal from Anam, and many 
other articles we have forgotten, all typical of 
the countries represented by the boys. The 
articles were afterwards distributed among 
needy outsiders. 

The Member from Siam — may he have been 
forgiven by this time — played upon our cre- 
dulity, and brought a bottle of coffee beans. For 
this, he received a splendid meed of praise, but 
we learned later that coffee does not grow in 
Siam! He was looked upon with suspicion un- 
til he had made good his record, but he enjoyed 
the joke so much that he took penalties with 
merry grace. 

The regular programme was carried out quite 
closely on this occasion. The Member from 
Samoa came with a good-sized clipping from 
a paper, through which he staggered (contrary 
to rules, for reading is not permitted), but 



Entertainments 119 

somehow among the younger boys he carried 
off the colors of the evening — just why no one 
exactly knew. Among the older boys, the 
Member from Persia had carefully looked up 
some items, capturing the colors in that Divi- 
sion. There was a duet by two members, but 
the pianist had to join stealthily in to help out 
the soprano for all that he had been indifferent 
to the rehearsal, and had boasted that he needed 
no drill. His bravado left him on the occasion 
— perhaps he was overcome by the Christmas 
glitter around him — and his usually strong 
voice grew weak and tremulous in places, and 
so had to be buttressed by the pianist. The 
Member from Burma closed with a really de- 
lightful selection over which the boys were 
enthusiastic. 

Twelve of the boys were trained to give an 
"International Flag Drill," which did service 
several times. The boys performed evolutions 
of a fancy kind, each holding two flags, the 
flags all different and representing the princi- 
pal nations of the world. 

After we had been organized for three years, 
we felt we were still living in obscurity and 
poverty. The first was bad enough, but the 
second was worse, so we decided to follow the 
example set by other church organizations by 
giving a public entertainment. It was to be 



120 Boys' Congress of Missions 

something altogether original, and we hoped 
thus to fill our coffers at one bound. 

Just what should be the character of the en- 
tertainment we were puzzled to know. One of 
the boys could sing a solo — he knew just one 
— entitled, "A Thousand Leagues Under the 
Sea," and though it was effective as a concert 
number, this was to be a distinctively mission- 
ary programme, and there was the rub. An- 
other boy was exceedingly dramatic and could 
recite "Paul Revere 's Ride," but that was so 
flagrantly non-missionary in character that we 
decided he had to learn something new. In a 
song, the catchy roulades and interminable 
holds might dupe the audience into fancying 
the thing appropriate, but not so with "Paul 
Revere." Another boy begged to be allowed 
to recite something, but as his oratorical powers 
were an untried thing, great risk attended en- 
trusting him with a number. However, we 
fixed up something short and pithy, something 
about the great brotherhood of humanity (in- 
cluding the Filipinos and the Boers), and when 
on the eventful evening he had finished, it was 
difficult to determine whether Boers or Fili- 
pinos or the young orator himself had been 
slaughtered. 

There was a quartet which had to develop 
into a quintet, for the alto, which was a low 



Entertainments 121 

air to which the other parts served as accom- 
paniment, was so weak that it could not be 
heard beyond the front row of chairs, and an- 
other alto was added in spite of the composer's 
finely conceived plan. One unquestionably 
charming musical number did grace the pro- 
gramme — a sweet little melody by Shelley, 
sung by a heavenly juvenile soprano voice. 

But all this was not new, and as we wanted 
some feature the public could not resist, we 
wrote a drama. It had to be a missionary com- 
position, to be sure, and we could think of no 
greater project for our evening than the civili- 
zation of China. We decided to prove to the 
world — at least to the locally known world — 
that the proposition was feasible. So we 
meditated and cogitated and ruminated for 
weeks, and finally evolved a thing we called 
a drama. Our diction was to be the best, our 
logic unassailable, our personation dignified 
and harmonious. 

One of the boys took the part of General 
Miles. " Miles" was fifteen, not of soldierly 
physique, but he had brains, a well-modulated 
voice, and could affect remarkable dignity. An- 
other acted as Major Conger. "Conger" 
weighed less than "Miles," but was a fine speci- 
men of a civilized boy. He had much studying 
to do to get his part well learned, and with 



122 Boys' Coetgkess of Missions 

one exception acted very creditably. He seemed 
to fall into little naps during rehearsals, not 
actually shutting his eyes, but he might as well 
have done so, for some one frequently and 
frantically had to shout "Conger" in a hoarse 
whisper to remind him that it was his turn to 
argue the question. 

"Minister Wu" was a round-cheeked Scotch- 
man of fourteen, with great suavity of manner 
and an unimpeachable queue (a well braided 
skein of black wool), and with his little Chinese 
attendant of five, also round-faced and smiling 
and adorned with an equally fine and inexpen- 
sive queue, made a picturesque and jolly ap- 
pearance. In their flowery kimonos, bright, 
baggy trousers and tinseled slippers, the two 
might have come from the streets of Pekin. 
The military men were all resplendent in gold 
and white. 

A native Indian teacher was introduced to 
prove what had civilized the red man, and to 
add reality and thrill to the scene, the Indian 
was brought in in fiercest native costume to 
"show what the Indian had laid aside for civili- 
zation. ' ? As a matter of fact, Eattlesnake Sam, 
our Indian, was an exceptionally genteel little 
fellow of about twelve, but "Miles" introduced 
him as having been "as fiery an Indian as ever 
scoured the western plains." To be perfectly 



Entertainments 123 

candid, Sam's suit had once done service as a 
Mexican costume, but we Indianized it by add- 
ing ferocious feathers and fur. 

"Col. Cornelius Gardiner" walked about the 
stage with a magnificent air and still more 
magnificent sword, while "Dr. Hamlin," the 
Washington clergyman, deserved much credit 
for the grace with which he conducted himself 
in our pastor's discarded coat (the imperfec- 
tions were not visible at night), the silk hat, the 
white cravat, and the faultless gloves. Two 
more boys, "Frederick," "Miles' " ebullient, 
resourceful messenger, and "Samuel Kanan- 
askoa" from Sulu, completed the dramatis 
personcs. Frederick wore an appropriate bluish 
suit with white leggins, and Kananaskoa was 
immaculate in white duck and broad-brimmed 
hat. The original Kananaskoa was supposed 
to be a serious lad, but this one was so self-con- 
scious during rehearsals that he was ever smil- 
ing, much to the dismay of everybody. As 
may be fancied, however, the smiles left him on 
the critical evening; he stood up against the 
wall with an actual pallor on his countenance, 
and it seemed that he was more afraid of west- 
ern audiences than desirous of western civiliza- 
tion. He at least kept his face straight, which 
was something gained. 

"Miles," "Conger," and "Wu," discussed 



124 Boys' Congress of Missions 

oriental situations very learnedly, "Dr. Ham- 
lin" brought in his moralizing, and Christianiz- 
ing evidences from the islands of the sea, the 
"Gineral" — as "Conger," in spite of corrective 
promptings persistently called "Miles" — pro- 
duced Rattlesnake Sam in evidence of what 
schools and churches had done for the Indian, 
and after dignified discussion, irresistible argu- 
ment, characteristic incidents, it was de- 
cided that only schools, hospitals, churches, and 
western civilization could "rouse the sleeping 
giant. ' ' Amid a great flourish of trumpets, the 
drama came to an end. 

The boys in conclusion sang, "Yesso go ge 
wing quah" (the Chinese of "Jesus Loves 
Me"), and the evening closed with more glory 
than gold. 

A later entertainment took the form of an 
"International Carnival," and was announced 
in our posters as "a gorgeous, dazzling, scin- 
tillating pageant of oriental splendor," a 
herald enticing enough to anybody. The idea 
was not a new one, but it was expressive of the 
purpose of the organization, and furnished a 
very fair proportion of amusement. 

There were six stalls representing the con- 
tinents — North America, South America, Eu- 
rope, Asia, and Africa — and the South Sea 
Islands. The boys representing North America 



Entektaikments 125 

equipped and did business in that stall, and a 
similar arrangement was observed regarding 
the other continents. South America, among 
other things, sold nuggets of gold to typify its 
mines — candy wrapped in gilt paper — while 
coffee was served for Brazil. Africa came in 
possession of certain doubtful "diamonds," 
which went at scandalous market prices. The 
stall for the Islands of the Sea was particularly 
attractive, for it was full of tropical suggestions. 
It was constructed of bamboo and was deco- 
rated in seaweeds and yellow cloth. It was 
vocal with the songs of canary birds, and was 
stocked with potted ferns and other appropriate 
articles for sale. Africa was expressive in black 
and white, and the traders in the stall vied with 
each other in the polished blackness of their 
skin, and the size of their barbarous earrings. 
The "King of Patagonia" in the South Ameri- 
can stall, showed great musical advancement 
for he favored the public with a most accept- 
able interpretation of the intermezzo from 
"Cavalleria Kusticana." 

An Indian Hunters' Drill concluded the even- 
ing. The boys were clad in savage costume and 
were armed with bows and arrows. With these 
they performed* military movements, and al- 
though they pointed their arrows at the spec- 
tators, some one satirically remarked that he 



126 Boys' Congress of Missions 

was not nearly so frightened as when the In- 
dians faced about and pointed them in the 
opposite direction. This fling at Indian marks- 
manship, the red men did not soon forget. 

The most picturesque and successful even- 
ing was "A Filipino Fiesta." As the name in- 
dicates, it was inspired by our new possessions. 

The room was converted into a Manila grove 
— palms, ylang ylang perfume, and mandolin 
music. Equipped with scissors, the boys had 
met frequently to make the palm leaves, and 
carabaos were cut out and painted as souvenirs. 
Even the most waggish on those nights got 
down to business, and when the task of the 
evening was done, they crept around on hands 
and knees to rake up the cuttings with their 
fingers; this that there might be no criticism 
from the Argus-eyed sexton. 

I suggested to one that he clean up more 
comfortably to himself by getting a broom 
with which to sweep up the shavings. But 
this he declined to do, for he remembered one 
terrible day at Sunday school when "the jani- 
tor jerked him down from the window by his 
feet." He failed, of course, to explain why 
he had inhabited the region of the stained- 
glass window. 

To give Spanish reality to the Fiesta, we 
studied the Spanish dictionary, for nothing 



Entertainments. 127 

so ordinary as ice cream was to be sold. 
"Helado"' would be the article that even- 
ing, and lemonade would be dispensed under 
the more lengthy and musical symbol "Li- 
monada de Luzon." This the B. C. M. Ee- 
porter called an "alias," and suggested that 
the fair senorita assistants were "liable to 
prosecution for obtaining money under false 
pretenses." 

There were seven booths in all, at which a 
varied business was transacted, and in each of 
which the youthful "Americanistas" were 
aided by senoras and senoritas. A "Manilo 
Oficio Telegrafo" sent cable dispatches to 
friends, and many "postage due letters" were 
foisted upon innocent visitors. A "Poco de 
Todo" booth, as the name suggests, sold a 
"little of everything," while the "Luneta Gal- 
eria del Arte," whose specialty was pictures, 
framed by the boys and their friends, intro- 
duced the modern bargain sale into Manila. 
"Aguinaldo y Compania" did a prosperous 
business at their "Estanque de Peces," which 
we called the Spanish for fish pond, and as the 
pond was empty long before the evening was 
over, it proved a marvelous get-rich-quick 
scheme. "Aguinaldo" had quit hostilities for 
the evening as he was busy with the fish pond, 
while "Aglipay" was joyously dispensing ice 



128 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

cream. "Ogampo" sold chop suey sundaes, so 
thoroughly American that every boy's mouth 
watered for more. 

One of the older boys, who has been a mem- 
ber for possibly six years, but whose principal 
characteristic is still verbal and muscular ebul- 
lition, proposed that he might be the Wild 
Man from Borneo. 

"What will you do?" I asked with curiosity. 

"Oh, I'll fix up," he answered. "I'll get 
into a dry goods box all rigged out in paint 
and feathers, and they'll have to pay five cents 
to see me. ' ' 

"Fine!" I answered after a moment's reflec- 
tion. It occurred to me that that arrangement 
would definitely settle the matter of the dis- 
cipline for the evening. Self-incarceration 
would be the best scheme he could devise to 
keep him in good order. 

Many of the boys attired themselves in Fili- 
pino costume, which, of course, is very simple, 
and as they gayly ran about on the bright red 
carpet, clad in white duck suits, they made the 
most picturesque scene imaginable. Young 
lady friends wore "camisas of jussi cloth," 
completing the island picture. ' ' These, ' ' in the 
language of the humorous Eeporter, "went 
forth to bunco the unsuspecting public on our 
behalf." 



Entertainments 129 

Tropical brilliancy was characteristic of the 
whole evening, and to add further reality to 
the scene, a good bass, an ex-member of the or- 
ganization, sang "The Spanish Bandolero" 
with dramatic fervor. Moreover, that we added 
the equivalent of many Spanish doubloons to 
our treasury was a most satisfactory result. 

We have had several stirring debates, some- 
times between the older and the younger boys, 
sometimes between the boys and outsiders, and 
it has been surprising how evenly intellect- 
ually the fight has been carried on. One of 
the subjects selected was, "Eesolved, That 
Africa needs the influences of civilization 
more than China." Three adult outsiders 
determined the issue, and the victors were 
awarded small brass medals bearing United 
States flags. In another debate the Transvaal 
question was settled, the boys and a company 
of girls engaging in the discussion. The boys 
carried off the honors, though the girls were 
hard to defeat. 

We cannot forget a banquet we have had in 
our history, and nothing is quite so irresistible 
to a boy as something good to eat. The boys 
were toastmaster and committee, acted as 
ushers, decorated the tables in holly and 
bright paper, strutted about with alluring 
badges, and sat down to a simple but perfectly 



130 Boys' Congress of Missions 

satisfying menu. Even carnations were sup- 
plied to each, and practically everything was 
provided by the boys or those directly inter- 
ested. 



THE CASE OF JIM 

Maw's callin* from the milk-house, 
Callin* stern, 
"Jim, yer lazy good-fer-nuthin\ 
Come an* churn." 

Paw's callin* from the corn-patch, 
Callin loud, 
"James, yer hulkin', stupid loafer, 
Time yer ploughed.** 

Nature's callin* from the trout-brook, 
Callin' whish, 
" Son, yer poor, tired, lazy feller, 
Come and fish.'* 

Stranger, if we just swapped places, 

Put it clear, 
Which of all the three a- callin* 

Would you hear ? 

(McLandburgh Wilson, in The New York Sun.) 



TESTIMONIES 




We had a "Testimony Meeting" one evening, 
an old-fashioned term with a new application, 
the last meeting of the year, in the month of 
June, 1904. 

I said to the boys : — 

"If you had planted 
a little garden, had 
watered it and tended 
it, had labored and 
watched over it, you 
might be looking for 
flowers or fruit or something beautiful and 
tangible. ' ' 

I continued: — 

"This ' Congress ' has been to me a garden, 
filled with human blossoms. Much thought has 
been given to it, and it has been often in the 
mind of the gardener. I wish to have a kind of 
i Testimony Meeting ' right here, and I wish you 
to say on a slip of paper which will be given 
you, and which you may keep ten minutes, what 
benefit the Boys' Congress of Missions has been 
to you. You can give just such an opinion as 

133 



134 Boys' Congbess of Missions 

you like, and if you wish, to say nothing, it will 
be all right. " 

So the boys separated to their respective 
rooms, made desks out of their chairs, and chairs 
out of the floor, prodded their minds with their 
pencils, and jotted down diverse and interest- 
ing statements. When the characters of the 
boys are considered — some earnest fellows tak- 
ing everything in life seriously, some generally 
accounted worthless and apparently unimpres- 
sionable, some separated from high ideals be- 
cause of their environment, some, on the other 
hand, surrounded by what is best and by what 
might tend to render them blase (for to-day 
even children are satiated with good things) 
— the testimonies, coming as they did from all 
sources, and having been written as stated, 
impromptu and with no idea on their part or 
on mine of publication, are certainly encourag- 
ing. They are a source of refreshment when 
the head and heart grow weary, when doubts 
arise as to the purpose of the organization, when 
discouragement steals into the mind and 
whispers that effort is wasted, when the mate- 
rial things of life momentarily seem more real 
than the intangible. 

It is amusing how, in many instances, 
individual countries are singled out as having 
been learned about, and as they are no doubt 



Testimonies 135 

the countries represented by the individual 
boys, it is evident that certain facts have 
slipped into their minds to stay. 

I append here a number of these testimonies, 
giving more accurately and comprehensively 
than could be given in any other way the pur- 
pose of the organization and some of its re- 
sults : — • 

"I have been a member of this organization 
for five years, and it has broadened my knowl- 
edge of missionaries and their work; also, 
political and geographical knowledge of foreign 
countries and of their products. I think such 
an organization is interesting also socially. 

"R L. K (Presbyterian)." 

"I have learned about the different countries 
of the globe; how their business is carried on, 
how the children of those countries get their 
schooling, and about politics and questions of 
war arising in those countries; have learned 
about the different missionaries and mission 
fields, how the missionaries have suffered and 
borne things quietly and uncomplainingly, have 
learned things about our own continent and 
country that I never knew before. In many 
ways my time in the Congress has been bene- 
ficial. 

"V McC (Methodist)." 



136 Boys' Congress of Missions 

"Spiritually it has helped me a great deal. 
When I was tempted in weakness, I had the 
courage to say, 'No.' I have tried at least in 
the meeting in which there was speaking by 
an outsider to listen attentively to learn as 
much as possible from his lesson. From Mr. 
Thompson's, 'The Good Ship,' I have learned 
a good deal, and tried to steer off the rocks 
and shoals toward the bright light ahead. 

'D P (Episcopalian)." 



"i 



"What I think has helped me most in my life 
is one of the meetings when the Jap was here, 
and when he said that about half a million peo- 
ple were killed for the Christian religion in his 
country. 

"R P .» 

"It has broadened my view of the missionary 
field. Things I have learned have helped me 
in my school work. I was always wondering 
where it told the time the world was going to 
end, and I found it here in the verse that as 
soon as all nations have learned the true gospel, 
the world would end. 

"H C — - (Congregational)." 

"I never heard of Mr. and Mrs. Eijnhart be- 
fore we were told in \ Congress/ I have also 



Testimonies 137 

learned about some missionaries as MacKay 
and Paton. I have also learned of the customs of 
people of foreign lands, through the speakers 
who have been here. 



u 



J B. W (Presbyterian). " 



"I have found a good many things in this 
B. C. M.:— 

"1. Many new songs. 

"2. Also new thoughts and happenings in 
other countries. 

"3. Modes of other people's living and life 
surroundings. 

"4. Work carried on in Africa by Living- 
stone and MacKay. 

"5. Found new friends, curios, paintings, 
maps, etc. 

"6. Different flags of countries. 

"M L (Presbyterian).' ' 

"I have learned in i Congress' this year the 
steps, trials, and hardships of the missionaries ; 
how they risk their lives to preach the gospel 
to the ignorant, and also a great deal more 
about the different countries. 

"H S (Trinity Episcopal)." 

"I like the l Congress' because I have learned 
about Persia. I have learned something about 



138 Boys' Congress of Missions 

all the countries, and it helps me in school. 
From the men here I have learned a lot about 
other countries. 

"G C W (Presbyterian)." 

"It has taught me more about missionaries, 
about the countries of the world, and more 
about drawing and painting. 

'E MacK (Presbyterian)." 



"i 



"I think the Boys' Congress of Missions is 
a great help to the city of Chicago by helping 
to teach the pupils of missionaries. 

'W P (Trinity Episcopal)." 



u n 



"I have in the past year learned from the 
work of the ' Congress' more about missions, 
more of what can be done if boys are brought 
together in the right spirit. 

<C L A (Christian)." 



"i 



"I have learned more about Japan than I 
ever knew before. 

"P M— (Presbyterian)." 



"I have learned much about foreign countries. 
• E J ( Presbyterian) . ' ' 



iC 



Testimonies 139 

" Since I have been in the Boys' Congress 
of Missions I have learned a great deal about 
other countries which I did not know before, 
and more about missionaries. 

"B C (Presbyterian)." 

"During my connection with the Boys' Con- 
gress of Missions I have learned many interest- 
ing things about various foreign countries and 
about missionaries. 

"F C— (Catholic)." 

"I have learned a great deal about different 
countries through different people that have 
given speeches on countries. 

"R B_ (Methodist)." 

"I have learned a good deal about the situa- 
tion of Turkey ; also about its religion, the differ- 
ent products, and I have also learned about its 
government. 

'J A O (Presbyterian)." 



a 



"I have learned much about foreign countries. 
I have learned of the abilities of boys when 
they try. 

"H K (Congregational)." 



140 Boys' Congress of Missions 

"I think the Boys' Congress of Missions is 
very nice. It helps to teach me more about the 
missionary. Keep it up. 

'E W (Presbyterian)." 



a- 



"T like the i Congress' because I've lernt 
about Madagascar. 

"(Unsigned)." 

"I think the Boys' Congress of Missions is 
very nice. It teaches me a great deal. I study 
Panama. It is a nice country. 

«H R S (Baptist)." 



SPECIAL PROGRAMMES 



on 



Special programmes have been furnished 
from time to time by the boys at other churches 
the occasion of missionary gatherings. 
These programmes were 
never for show or of a fancy 
nature, but were practical in 
character, indicative of what 
is done throughout the year. 
A little music was occa- 
sionally interspersed, but it 
consisted, as a rule, of one- 
part songs by the oldest 
boys. They generally de- 
plored its simplicity, but 
what it lacked in intricacy of harmony was 
made up in lung power. The heartiness with 
which they sang their Chinese song, "Yesso go 
ge wing quah," was usually appreciated more 
by the auditors than by the boys themselves, 
the latter forgetting that its quaintness and 
volume made up for its musical simplicity. 

These special programmes were varied. The 
Member from Syria might possibly give a talk 

141 





142 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

on his country, the Member from Mexico on 
his. At times, the boys would explain diagrams 
on comparative religions, on giving, on the 
progress of Christianity, or possibly on com- 
parative congregations. With fewest possible 
exceptions, a very willing spirit was always 
manifest on the part of the boys to take the 
parts assigned them. 

A programme on China was once furnished 
a senior Endeavor Society of a Presbyterian 
church. Books were consulted, pamphlets read, 
and topics were assigned to the boys to be dis- 
coursed on from memory. The topics touched 
upon by the boys were the following: — 

Area. 

Population. 

History. 

People. 

Oddities. 

Lectures in Columbia University. 

[Religion. 

Missions. 

Boxer Troubles. 

An amusing coincidence took place that even- 
ing. The Seniors had prepared the first half 
of the evening's programme, and the boys were 
to fill the second half. Singularly enough, the 
Seniors had been reading the same books the 
boys had been perusing (and they were Metho- 
dist pamphlets in the bargain), and had se- 



Special Programmes 143 

lected the topics which most of the boys had 
chosen. This was too much for the wag of the 
B. C. M., and his comment on the occasion was: 
"The meanest thing a-going! They ask us to 
furnish the programme on China, and then give 
it all themselves. ' ' 

The boys had acquitted themselves with such 
credit at the "Chinese Meeting' ' that they 
were invited soon afterwards to take part in 
a Quarterly Sunday-school Missionary Bally. 

For this the life of MacKay was chosen, and 
ten members made two-minute addresses on the 
subject of the great missionary. The topics dis- 
cussed were these: — 

Introduction — Africa. 

Early years of MacKay. 

Map of Uganda (presented and explained), 

MacKay at Zanzibar. 

The trip to Uganda. 

Honga or tribute. 

King Mtesa. 

MacKay as Undertaker. 

Mwanga. 

MacKay 's Death, and Uganda To-day. 

It is not the easiest matter in the world for 
an adult to recite topically, interestingly, and 
forcefully, and a little nervousness on the part 
of sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boys was not 
therefore a surprise. On the occasion of this 
meeting, one of the brawny fellows evinced 



144 Boys' Congress of Missions 

some pallor about the lips and some nervous- 
ness of speech. This was opportunity for the 
Reporter's pen — ever ready to take advantage 
of such a predicament — to furnish this skit: — 

"One of the speakers became quite realistic 
in his address and was seized with a genuine 
African chill. As we had no quinine he was 
temporarily indisposed, but quickly recovered 
himself and proceeded. In the opinion of the 
writer, this was a remarkable demonstration of 
the power of mind over matter. The speaker 
attributed his chill to the fact that one of his 
esteemed contemporaries told him that MacKay 
had made a green flag with a blue cross on it 
instead of a blue flag with a red cross." 

This programme was later given by the same 
boys on the North Side of the city, and their 
bravery and trepidation were rewarded by the 
serving of dainty refreshments in a pretty 
parlor by some fair young ladies. This was a 
social red letter day for the boys, and I feared 
they were willing, under similar circumstances, 
to talk on MacKay every week of the year. 

At Winona Lake last summer, at the School 
of Missions and Methods, sample exercises by 
the boys were called for, and it may be suggest- 
ive and helpful to print here one such exercise, 
topically arranged, just as it was used by the 
boys. The one on MacKay of Uganda is se- 



Special Peogeammes 145 

lected, for his life is unfailingly interesting to 
boys. 

MacKay, of Uganda 
ietteoductiost afeica 

Africa has long been known as the "Dark 
Continent." It is so called 

Because much of it is still unexplored. 

Because millions of its people are still with- 
out any civilization whatever. 

Because some of them even to-day are can- 
nibals. 

Because few great railroads cross the con- 
tinent, and 

Because most of it lies to-day in spiritual 
darkness. 

Since the days of Livingstone, who went out 
as a missionary and who won fame also as an 
explorer, the eyes of the world have been turned 
in the direction of Africa. Stanley, in his 
search for Livingstone, also called attention to 
Africa, and spoke words of highest praise for 
Livingstone and MacKay. 

To-day, the one great railroad which will 
connect the north with the south is almost com- 
pleted; trade and education have been directed 
that way; many missionaries have joined the 
ranks of Moffatt and of Livingstone; and at 



146 Boys' Congeess of Missions 

least some light is falling on people who, 
though their skin is black, have souls that must 
be purified if they shall live forever. 

The great countries of the world nearly all 
own a portion of the continent, and the nations 
which have heard the gospel are debtors to the 
blacks. 

We are now to consider the life of MacKay, 
closely associated with Africa, whom Stanley 
called the greatest man next to Livingstone he 
had met. 

MACKAY ? S EAELY YEAES 

MacKay was born in Aberdeenshire, Scot- 
land, in 1840. Although his father was a 
preacher, MacKay himself had a mechanical 
turn of mind, and loved to see and to make 
things. He received, however, an excellent in- 
tellectual training. 

Nature also interested him, and as he rode 
on his Shetland pony across the moors, every 
flower and rock attracted his attention. 

His mother told him missionary stories as a 
boy, and though he loved to hear them, he 
sometimes expressed the thought that he did 
not think he could love black people. 

He studied engineering in Berlin, attaining 
a high position in the University. While there 
his mother died, leaving him the message "to 
read his Bible and to search it, so as to meet 



Special Programmes 147 

her in glory. ' ' This message took deep root in 
his heart. Later, his sister wrote him of a great 
missionary sermon, which determined him to 
go as a Christian engineer to Madagascar, but 
Madagascar was not ready for a Christian en- 
gineer, so he turned his attention to Africa. 

MacKay had read Stanley's "How I Found 
Livingstone, " and in this he was impressed by 
the message of King Mtesa, sent through 
Stanley to the Christian world, namely, to bring 
Christianity to Uganda. 

So his mother's stories, his sister's letter, 
his father's discussions with him about the 
Nile, and his mechanical skill turned his heart 
and hand to Africa. 

(Uganda: Map and Explanation followed 
here.) 

AT ZANZIBAR 

MacKay set sail from Southampton, Eng- 
land, in 1876, passing through the Mediter- 
ranean, reaching the Gulf of Aden, and after 
a halt of a day on land, sailed for Zanzibar. 

When he reached Zanzibar the moon shone 
brightly, and the Sultan's fleet of four or five 
small steamers was visible in the harbor. There 
was also an English two-decker stationed there 
for the suppression of the slave trade. 

Every week, the English captured slave boats 
and the week before MacKay arrived they had 



148 Boys' Congress of Missions 

caught one hundred and fifty slaves. The gun- 
ship ? s boat received five pounds prize money 
for every slave captured, so the Arab traders 
were afraid of the English, while the negroes 
were afraid of all the whites. 

The English officers were often deceived, 
however. The boat's crews relied on the na- 
tives for information, and as the natives were 
bribed to decoy the English boats, the boats 
often went in the wrong direction, and the slave 
boats of the Arabs would escape. Women and 
children were often passed off as wives or 
slaves of Arab passengers. 

MacKay writes interestingly as follows on 
board the mission steamer in the Bay of Zan- 
zibar (to be read) : — 

" While writing on board our mission steamer 
in the Bay of Zanzibar, I am listening to the 
pleasant sound of one of Mozart's marches, 
played by the band of a British man-of-war, 
stationed here for the suppression of the slave 
trade. Here it is warm, like German midsum- 
mer, and the lightning is playing among the 
clouds over to the west. The German music 
carries me back to the land from which it came, 
and all the happy ties which bind me to the 
great Fatherland. The British man-of-war 
makes me think of ' Bonnie Scotland' and the 
days 'o' auld lang syne;' of peaceful England, 



Special Programmes 149 

which does her best even out here to put an 
end to cruelty and oppression between man and 
man. The Mohammedan gun makes me sigh 
over the determination of deluded men to wor- 
ship God in a way that is no worship at all. 
The little vessel in which I am, conveys the im- 
pression that the true way of life is at last rep- 
resented here too, but is yet only one tiny seed 
in the great soil which Satan has owned so 
long, but which we hope to reclaim to our Mas- 
ter ? s possession. " 

THE TRIP TO UGANDA 

MacKay had a mission flag of a blue ground 
with a large red cross in the middle. From 
each cart fluttered a small flag, while a large 
one waved over his tent every day they camped. 

There was much to carry, such as ma- 
chinery, books, provisions, tools, agricultu- 
ral implements, medicines, gunpowder, etc. 
MacKay also had a light cedar boat called the 
" Daisy," which it took fifty men to carry in 
sections. 

Blacks cannot work at anything without sing- 
ing, and as they groaned under the heavy loads, 
ten at each piece, they chanted all the way in 
one of the native languages, " White men give 
plenty pence !" It took fifty more men to carry 



150 Boys' Congress of Missions 

the beads and cloth, which were used as money 
for barter throughout the journey. 

They met herds of elephants, zebras, and 
giraffes, and found the road strewn with skele- 
tons of bodies which the hyenas had picked 
bare. They passed through unhealthy man- 
grove swamps, and were pestered by scorpions, 
flies, and mosquitoes. The soil was fine, but the 
people were lazy, and one tribe living in one 
of the valleys near which the caravan passed, 
were cannibals. 

One of MacKay's party, Lieutenant Smith, 
ordered the blacks one day to cut grass with 
which to thatch a hut. But the blacks were 
tired, things were dear around them, so they 
picked up their guns and cloth, and bolted, leav- 
ing their loads in camp. 

Neighboring natives, however, seeing the 
plight of the white men, turned out of their 
villages in great numbers, and with skill and 
bravery brought them all back into camp, and 
the next day the caravan started again. 

HOKGA OR TRIBUTE 

As the caravan went from chief to chief, they 
had to pay honga, which is the native word for 
tribute or tax. 

The natives were generally slow in making 
up their minds how much tax they wanted or 



Special Progkammes 151 

could get. Sometimes, the caravan was detained 
four or five days, and then a dirty, greasy old 
chief might ask for their finest silk shawl — 
"such as became a king," he would say. At one 
time, one of them settled on forty-one cloths, one 
double-barreled gun, one powder flask, and a 
few percussion caps. 

At another place, the king asked fifty cloths, 
but he had to be satisfied with forty-five. 

Lieutenant Smith thought he would entertain 
the king by showing him the wonders of the 
white men, so he struck a match. He was ac- 
cused of trying to destroy the place and the 
people, and the king asked thirty more cloths, 
but had to be satisfied with twenty-five — all that 
the missionaries would give. 

The slave caravans generally started for the 
coast at night, so MacKay could not see them, 
but he could hear the clank of the chains, and 
the piteous wail of the mothers who had been 
separated from their children. 

"At night he heard the cannon roar 
And the hyena scream, 
And the river horse, as he crushed the reeds 
Beside the hidden stream. " 

They were always up at daylight, and break- 
fasted on oranges, coffee, and quinine, the last 
to keep away the chills and fever. Sometimes, 
they found milk and eggs in abundance. They 



152 Boys' Congress of Missions 

would then halt for a few days and rest them- 
selves. 

KING MTESA 

MacKay reached Uganda two and one-half 
years after he left England. The natives saw 
MacKay and his followers on Lake Nyanza, so 
they manned a canoe and paddled out to meet 
them, with drums beating merrily. 

King Mtesa, whom Stanley had met, was ill, 
but he sent greetings and two fat goats. Two 
days afterwards, he received them in state, 
arrayed in a long white robe, with a black coat 
trimmed in gold. Although king of a savage 
country, he was very intelligent and very 
proud. He was pleased with MacKay and his 
friends, and in the evening sent them a present 
of ten fat cattle, a load of tobacco, and some 
honey. 

He was so proud of his own person that one 
of the great explorers tells of him that he re- 
peatedly asked the question: "Have you seen 
me? Have you seen me?" 

MacKay gave Mtesa much information from 
time to time, and the king listened very closely 
when MacKay spoke of the telegraph, tele- 
phone, and phonograph. 

Once when MacKay called on Mtesa, he found 
him wearing as an ornament a plated railway 



Special Pkogkammes 153 

whistle, which MacKay had given him months 
before. 

The king was fond of discussion, and would 
listen attentively to MacKay 's talks on the gos- 
pel, and sometimes Mtesa seemed impressed, for 
he would say to his people : — 

"Isa (Jesus); was there ever anyone like 
him?" 

Mtesa, however, was afraid of the whites — 
afraid that they would "eat up his country;" 
by which he meant, conquer it. He feared 
Queen Victoria would make war and take his 
country, but MacKay assured him that Queen 
Victoria would not make war unless Mtesa first 
declared war on England. This generally satis- 
fied Mtesa for a while. MacKay had a music 
box which always charmed the king and the 
people, and the strange thing was that the most 
popular air was, "God save the Queen," 

MACKAY AS UNDERTAKER 

In 1882, the king's mother died. Immediately, 
drums were beaten to frighten away the 
"king of terrors." The chiefs sat about in 
rags and roared, and the whole tribe was in 
mourning. 

Mtesa wanted a splendid funeral, and he 
asked MacKay how they buried royalty in Eng- 
land. MacKay told him they used three coffins, 



154 Boys' Congbess of Missions 

the inner of wood, the next of lead, and the 
outer of wood. Mtesa immediately ordered the 
things to be brought, and got together all avail- 
able copper drums, copper cans, copper pots 
and plates, and also some fine trays of Egyptian 
workmanship, which it is thought General 
Gordon had given Mtesa. 

MacKay's school was temporarily changed 
into a smithy. 

After ten days, the two inner coffins were 
finished. They were cushioned inside with cot- 
ton wool, covered with snow-white calico, and 
finished with a thousand copper tacks. The 
two boxes were then taken to the king, who ex- 
pressed the greatest delight, and who im- 
mediately made MacKay a present of ten head 
of cattle, several cows, one hundred plantains, 
and many gallons of beer. After this, the third 
and largest coffin was prepared. 

When all three were finished, a huge pit for 
a grave was dug, twenty by fifteen at the mouth, 
and thirty feet deep. 

Amid great lamentations, the body was low- 
ered into the pit and the space was filled out 
with thousands of yards of calico, costing in 
all about seventy-five thousand dollars. 

The greatest triumph of the burial was that 
the head blacksmith to the king, on hearing the 
gospel story, was converted to Christianity. 



Special Programmes 155 

MWA1STGA 

King Mtesa died in 1884. He was succeeded 
by Mwanga, his cruel, haughty son. 

When MacKay first went to him at court, he 
found him dressed in a magnificent leopard 
skin, with a white ivory tusk at his side, and 
a small mirror in his hand. He received Mac- 
Kay with foolish pride. 

But Mwanga soon persecuted the native 
Christians. Black boys had been MacKay 's 
special friends. They worked in MacKay 's 
shop, they sailed with him in his boat, they 
learned to read his translations, and they 
learned also to worship MacKay 's God. 

The king gave orders to kill old and young. 
Two boys were burned, then eleven, at another 
time thirty-two, and at last it seemed as if the 
king was determined to wipe out all Chris- 
tians. The two boys mentioned are said by the 
writer of the story to have i ' died with the songs 
of Zion on their lips." Later, the king called 
in the sorcerers to divine whether MacKay 
should also be put to death, but he was spared 
because of the burial he had given the queen 
and later King Mtesa. 

But the people grew weary of Mwanga 's 
reign of terror. He had to flee across the lake, 
and in his flight and distress he begged Mac- 



156 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

Kay to help him back. He succeeded in return- 
ing, but he was no longer the despotic master 
of former days. Christians occupied all the 
positions of authority, and a different state of 
things came to pass. 

mackay's death, and the present conditions 
of uganda 

One day, MacKay saw a great caravan in the 
distance. It proved to be Stanley and the re- 
lief expedition. He put on his white linen 
suit and white felt hat, and went to welcome 
them. He had a brief, happy time with them, 
but shortly afterwards, as some one has said, 
' ' Stanley and his party came home to European 
platforms and receptions ; while the lonely mis- 
sionary went to the palace of the King of kings.' ' 

MacKay was ill but four or five days with 
African fever, contracted from overwork and 
a cold, when he died. He was delirious most 
of the time, but Christian friends attended him 
at the last. Many of his boys, as they lowered 
him into his grave, sang in the Luganda lan- 
guage the song which is familiar to us all, 
"All hail the power of Jesus' name." 

He lies buried south of the lake which he 
loved, but the work which he did is bearing 
fruit, not a hundred but many thousandfold. 

To-day, the British flag floats over Uganda. 



Special Programmes 157 

Wlien Queen Victoria died, lier funeral was ob- 
served with great pomp, and all the chiefs took 
the oath of loyalty to Edward VII. 

The road built by MacKay has become the 
Uganda railroad. 

In 1882, after five years of labor, MacKay 
baptized his first convert. There are now 

700 churches. 
2,000 native teachers, and 
30,000 native converts. 

The early missionary heroes of Uganda — 
real soldiers of the cross — sleep in the ceme- 
tery which has been fittingly called, " God's 
Acre." Here they rest from their labors "till 
the day break, and the shadows flee away." 

(Note. — One of our young friends, several 
times an attendant at the B. C. M. in its first 
years, painted a very effective picture of 
Uganda Cemetery, which is one of our wall 
decorations. 

The writer is indebted to "The Story of 
the Life of MacKay of Uganda," by his sister, 
for the facts in the foregoing sketch.) 



"There is the throne of David; 

And there, from care released, 
The song of them that triumph, 

The shout of them that feast : 
And they who, with their Leader, 

Have conquered in the fight 
Forever and forever 

Are clad in robes of white.'* 



BESPONSIBILITY 



It was the artist Tucker, I believe, who 
dropped his palette and brush and responded 
to a call from within to lay aside art, the simu- 
lation of life, and take up the burden 
itself. You may remember that he 
was painting a woman with a babe, 
out in a pitiless night, their faces 
blanched and pinched, and every 
lineament and movement crying out 
for help. 

"Why paint these things?" the 
artist queried. "They are an ap- 
peal to the world for aid, and will no 
doubt elicit it, but I can paint no 
longer ; I must go myself out into the darkness 
of life and help the needy. ' ' 

He awoke to a special responsibility, and 
after devoting himself to the slums for a while, 
heard another call from far-off Uganda. This 
also he answered, and the transformation of 
that dusky country is well known. 

We are not alive to our opportunities; we 
are not acutely responsive to the needs about 

161 




162 Boys' Congkess of Missions 

us; we let slip immortal chances, and pine for 
victories which pale before the possible. 

A pastor in my hearing recently related two 
incidents, enhanced in their application by their 
contrast. 

One was that of an old man, who lay appar- 
ently dying one night, whom the pastor was 
called to see. The physical exhaustion and 
colorless countenance bespoke few hours of 
life, and the pastor said gently to him: — 

"You are a very sick man." 

"Yes," answered the patient, "I shall not 
be here in the morning." 

To the surprise of everyone, however, he 
rallied, and finally recovered. Fully restored, 
he was again called upon by the pastor, who, 
wishing to get a psychological or spiritual les- 
son from a dying man's state of mind, said: — 
"Tell me what was most on your mind when 
you felt you must go." 

"I was sorry that I had not done more for 
the world and for my Master. It was the one 
regret I had to take with me." 

The second incident has a stranger pathos 
and yet a greater peace. 

Two brothers were in a boat which capsized. 
The younger went down. The elder watched to 
see him rise, and though he struggled to get 
near to him, he missed him. Again he watched 



Responsibility 163 

to see him rise, and a second time he missed 
him. Waiting a third time, exhausted, he cried 
for help. A boat came to his aid, but too late 
to rescue the younger brother. 

On reaching the shore, in an agony of soul 
the elder fell on his knees, bowed himself to 
the ground and cried: — 

"Oh, God!— but I did what I could!" 

It is important to consider what will be our 
own comment on ourselves when we realize the 
opportunities we have missed or embraced. 
We may not enjoy the meed of the distinguished 
and be laid to rest in the Poet's Corner of West- 
minster Abbey beneath the century-old rose 
window; but our duty done toward fellow- 
travelers — among them the buoyant, promising 
boys by our side, and the ill-favored under our 
own and other flags — there will be no personal 
or parental or pastoral regrets. 

There is to-day the double call toward the 
boy and toward the unsaved, and our call 
toward the former is no less ringing than 
toward the latter. Even among the old Spar- 
tans no citizen could live for self alone, and if 
under no particular direction as to duty, he 
was required to teach the boys. Again, in 
China rather grim justice was meted out some 
time since to a man. He had been teacher to 
one who had lately murdered his father. The 



164 Boys' Congbess of Missions 

murderer was put to death and along with him 
the teacher who had failed to teach his pupil 
better morals! 

One engaged in work of this character, 
though seeing the great needs and the great 
derelictions, also occasionally gets glimpses of 
genuine interest in this phase of philanthropy. 

"I have a Sunday-school class of what is 
termed in the community, 'The Bad Boys'," 
writes one, "and, of course, you know how 
hard it is to hold them, but I have been in a 
measure successful. I now realize that unless 
I have something out of the ordinary, I shall 
not be able to help them much, for they will 
lose interest when things get i slow. ' I love my 
boys, and so much desire to see them develop 
into Christian gentlemen, and somehow I feel 
a great part of their destiny depends upon me, 
and I do not want to prove unfaithful to my 
charge. ' ' 

From Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in my let- 
ter file, I find this plaint : — 

"This coal town of 20,000 people, largely 
foreigners, has a very compact area, is desti- 
tute of parks, or rather of improved ones, and 
for popular amusement has mostly saloons and 
inferior theatricals. Swarms of children play 
in the streets. The question is brought home 
very forcibly what to do for the boys." 



Besponsibility 165 

A third, recounting a season of exertions and 
trials on behalf of a company of boys, writes :— 

"I gathered together about thirty boys, street 
urchins; I cannot get them to attend the Sun- 
day school regularly. There are baseball games 
on Sunday, and most of them go there. I have 
tried many ways, and the parents do not care. 
I ask myself daily, 'How can I keep the boys?' " 

At a recent portrait exhibit at our Art Insti- 
tute, I looked on the splendid coloring, the 
faithful delineation of feature and form, the 
vivid portrayal of passion, power, and emotion 
in the faces of the subjects, and I wondered at 
it all, but the greater marvel to me was the 
hand of the artist behind it — the genius that 
could put breathing, unmistakable life upon 
the canvas. Yet greater than genius of this kind 
must be that which creates the original power 
and beauty irradiating from the countenance. 
This is the art of character-building, which must 
begin with youth if the result is to be perfect, 
and it is an art in which too few wield the brush. 

At times, there are no visible results of un- 
questionable sacrifice, for I recall a pupil — a 
poor, unhandsome, wayward, deceptive, reck- 
less and dissipated youth, who lay alone, dead 
on his bier, after a brief and continuously un- 
conscious illness of a few days — but I recall 
also one full of life and activity, and inclined 



166 Boys' Congeess of Missions 

to the same course in my early teaching days, 
who was restrained from the fatal steps, and 
who — to-day a carver of monuments — put a 
specially tender and loving touch for the sake 
of our earlier relationship, on my own mother's 
tombstone. 

Assumption of responsibility, fidelity to 
trust, persistence in the face of difficulty, sym- 
pathy and insight into one's subject, and faith 
in one 's ideal, will change the vexatious lad into 
perfect proportions, and will make his physical, 
intellectual, and spiritual natures as regular as 
the triangle on his gymnasium sweater. 

On the southern side of our Midway — that 
magnificent boulevard between two parks — are 
sunken squares many of them filled with 
marshes and deposits of cinders, and from a 
greenish mire arises a wilderness of weeds. The 
expanse is unattractive, almost uncanny, but 
here and there in the summer season, the pale, 
pink bells of a wild morning-glory are strug- 
gling through the tangled and multiplied bushes 
toward "an ampler ether and diviner air." 

It would seem almost incredible that from 
the morass about them such delicate pink 
blossoms with their white five-pointed centers 
and delicate central sword points could spring 
into existence. But they do, and they remind 
one of the spiritual beauty in heathen lands. 



Kesponsibility 167 

Despite superstition and adamantine intellect- 
ual barriers, it flourishes, and even the density 
of savagery cannot choke its growth. 

Over this same Midway one morning, the sun 
was tardily struggling through the mist and 
was touching up the tiled roofs of the buildings 
of the University of Chicago with a brighter 
red. As I walked and mused, I said to myself, 
"Just so the Sun of Eighteousness is dawning 
in Japan, and the temples of the living God are 
brightening with spiritual light. ' ' 



" When Jesus comes to reward his servants, 
Whether it be noon or night, 
Faithful to him will he find us watching, 
With our lamps all trimmed and bright? 

" If at the dawn of the early morning, 
He shall call us one by one, 
When to the Lord we restore our talents, 
Will he answer thee — ' Well done * ? ' 



ADDENDUM 



SOME MISSIONABY BIBLE VEBSES WE 
HAVE LEABNED 



How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
bringeth good tidings. Isa. 52:7. 

Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert 
a highway for our God. Isa. 40:3. 

Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of 
men. Mark 1:17. 

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters. Isa. 32:20. 

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Ps. 33:12. 

The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our 
Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 
Eev. 11:15. 

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the 
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end 
come. Matt. 24:14. 

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. II Tim. 2:12. 

Lift up your heads, O ye gates . . . and the King of glory 
shall come in. Ps. 24:9. 

Ye shall be witnesses unto me . . . unto the uttermost part 
of the earth. Acts 1:8. 

Ye are not your own . . . for ye are bought with a price. 
I Cor. 6:19, 20. 

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Ps. 29:2. 

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Matt. 19:19. 

173 



174 Boys' Congress of Missions 

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Matt. 6:20. 

Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white 
already to harvest. John 4: 35. 

The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of 
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Hab. 2:14. 

Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I 
must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be 
one fold, and one shepherd. John 10:16. 

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 
John 8:32. 

If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the 
afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy 
darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord shall guide thee con- 
tinually. Isa. 58:10, 11. 

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not 
believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they 
have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 
Kom. 10:14. 

Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and who- 
soever shall lose his life shall preserve it. Luke 17: 33. 

If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. James 2:8. 

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not 
back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends 
of the earth. Isa. 43 : 6. 

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature. Mark 16:15. 



QUOTATIONS MEMORIZED ONE YEAR 



September : 

"The light that shines brightest shines farthest from 
home. ' ' 

October : 

' ' The restless millions wait 

That light whose dawning maketh all things new; 

Christ also waits, but men are slow and late. 

Have we done what we could? Have I? Have you If 

November : 

1 ' For the cause that needs assistance, 
For the wrongs that need resistance, 
For the future in the distance, 
And the good that I can do. ' ' 

December : 

1 1 Four things a man must learn to do, 
If he would make his record true; 
To think without confusion clearly; 
To love his fellow-men sincerely; 
To act from honest motive purely; 
To trust in God and Heaven securely.' ' 

January : 

"To be a strong hand in the dark to another in the time 
of need." 

February : 

" Flinch not, faint not. Time will tell; 
Heaven keeps its reckoning well. ,, 

175 



176- Boys' Coetgkess of Missions 

March : 

1 ' The Bird of Time has but a little way to flutter. 
The bird is on the wing. ' ' 

April : 

' i My soul upon his errand goes ; 

The end I know not, but God knows. ' ' 

May: 

" When discouraged, tell God and don't tell your 
neighbor. ' ' 

June: 

' ' I know not what the future hath, of marvel or surprise, 
Assured alone that life and death his mercy underlies.' ' 



CONSTITUTION 



AETICLE I 

Name 

The name of this organization shall be the Boys' Congress 

of Missions. 

AETICLE II 

Object 

Its object shall be to awaken an interest in the temporal and 

spiritual welfare of the great brotherhood of humanity, or in 

what is commonly called "Home and Foreign Missions.' ' 

AETICLE III 

Membership 

Boys shall be eligible to membership: — 

1. By filling out an application blank like the following: — 



BOYS' CONGRESS OF MISSIONS 

APPLICATION BLANK 



ipo 

/ hereby make application for Membership in the 
Boys 1 Congress of Missions, 

Name _ „ . .. 

Address „ __ 

Age _ — _ ......... 

At Work or at School? . 

What Church or Sunday School do you attend ? 

Which Division do you wish to enter ? _ 

What country has been assigned to you ?. 



177 



178 Boys' Congress of Missions 

2. By representing some country for each year and respond- 
ing at the monthly roll call by giving orally an item of interest 
(geographical, historical, political, industrial, educational, or 
religious) concerning the country selected by or assigned to him 
for the year. 

3. By making such free will offering as he is able for Home 
and Foreign Missions at the regular monthly meeting. 

Three successive absences, without excuse, shall forfeit mem- 
bership. 

ARTICLE IV 

Officers 

Its officers shall be a Superintendent, appointed by the 
church, a Division Leader for each set of fifteen boys or 
fraction of fifteen, appointed by the Superintendent; a Sec- 
retary, a Treasurer, and a Reporter, the last three officers to 
be selected by a majority vote of the members present at the 
September meeting. 

Vacancies in the last three offices to be filled by a majority 
vote at any regular monthly meeting. 

ARTICLE V 

Terms of Office. 
The term of office shall be one year. 

ARTICLE VI 

Duties of Officers 

It shall be the duty of the Superintendent to act in an exe- 
cutive capacity, to preside at the meetings, to look out for the 
needs and the interests of the organization in its various par- 
ticulars, and to procure the speaker of the evening or such other 
special outside talent as the programme may seem to demand. 

It shall be the duty of the Division Leaders to call the 
roll of the Division, to supervise the Division generally, and 



Constitution 179 

to get into as close personal touch with the Division as its 
interests may require. 

It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep the records under 
the direction of the Superintendent, to send out monthly or 
special notices drafted by the Superintendent, and to perform 
the duties generally pertaining to such office. 

It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take charge of the 
monthly offerings and to disburse them in accordance with the 
decision of the organization. 

It shall be the duty of the Eeporter to make a written report 
in the nature of a critique of the meeting; not so much a 
didactic statement of the meeting as good racy comment on 
what took place. 

AETICLE VII 

Committees 

There shall be three committees consisting of three or more 
members each: Decorating, Floor, and Eefreshment; the com- 
mittees to be appointed by the Superintendent from month to 
month, or for such portion of a year as may be deemed advisable 
in order to give as large a number of boys as practicable ex- 
perience in practical work. 

AETICLE VIII 

Duties of Committees 

It shall be the duty of the Decorating Committee to put up 
before and take down after the meeting the decorations 
mentioned in Article XI of this constitution. 

It shall be the duty of the Floor Committee to seat strangers, 
to attend to the ventilation of the room, to take up the offering, 
and to perform such other acts as are incidental to the comfort 
of the members and to the order of the room. 

It shall be the duty of the Eefreshment Committee to serve 
the refreshments, to make such arrangements as will make such 
service smooth and satisfactory, and to see that if dishes are 
used they are cleaned and placed in their proper places at the 
close. 



180 Boys' Congress of Missions 

aeticle IX 
Time and Place of Meeting 

The regular meeting shall be held on the fourth Friday even- 
ing of each month from September to June (both inclusive), 
or at such other time or times as a majority of the members 
may elect. 

The place of meeting shall be the church, unless for good 
reasons a majority of the members shall elect otherwise. 

ARTICLE X 
Colors, 
The colors of the organization shall be orange and black. 

ARTICLE XI 
Decorations 

Wall helps and decorations shall be made or purchased from 
time to time. Among these may be mentioned a good map of 
the world; diagrams illustrative of the work; specimens of 
architecture and types of civilization of the various countries; 
comparative maps and diagrams; maps of important individual 
countries represented by the boys; a series of pennants bearing 
the names of missionaries or other great philanthropists; a 
pennant bearing the letters "&. C. M.," or the words, " Boys' 
Congress of Missions, ? ' indicative of the organization ; and such 
other helps and attractions as suggest themselves from time 
to time by the topics studied or the work done by the boys. 
These to be put up for each meeting by the Decorating Com- 
mittee, in suitable places provided for them. 

ARTICLE XII 

Entertainments 

At least one entertainment of importance shall be given 
during the year, either entirely or partly by the boys, to which 
entertainment the friends of the boys and the organization shall 
be invited. 

Should the entertainment, for good reason, be a pay entertain- 



Constitution 181 

ment, the proceeds may be disposed of in a manner deemed 
best by a majority vote of the members. 

AETICLE XIII 

Divisions 

The organization shall be divided into sets of boys (about 
fifteen in each set), to be known as ' l Divisions/ J the oldest 
boys constituting the First Division, the next oldest the Second 
Division, and so on down to the youngest. 

The ages of the boys and their friendships are regarded as 
conditions determining the Division to which a member shall 
be assigned. 

Each Division shall be in charge of a Leader, who shall 
call the roll and give such supervision generally to the Divi- 
sion as circumstances require. 

AETICLE XIV 

Appropriations 

The monthly offerings of the boys shall be voted from time to 
time to Home and Foreign Missions, after the object or cause 
has been explained to the boys. A majority vote shall govern. 

AETICLE XV 

Programme 

At each regular monthly meeting the order of exercises shall 
include the following: — 

Prayer. 

A bible verse, or helpful quotation, containing a broad mis- 
sionary thought, to be committed to memory, to which two or 
three minutes shall be devoted. 

Music. 

Eeporter's report of preceding meeting. 

Offering for missions. 

Eoll call by countries represented by the boys. 

Brief address on Home or Foreign Missions, or other relevant 
theme. 

Eefreshments. 



182 Boys' Congress of Missions 

ARTICLE XVL 

Expenses 

The current expenses of the organization (such as postage, 
stationery, printing, a good map of the world, refreshments 
of a simple kind, etc.) shall be paid for by the church in which 
the monthly meeting is held, and a report of such expenses shall 
be made annually to the church by the Superintendent. 

ARTICLE XVII 

Flowers - 

A special fund made up of free-will offerings from the boys 
shall be established with which to purchase flowers for members 
who may be ill. One of the boys shall be appointed by the 
Superintendent to purchase and to deliver the flowers. 

ARTICLE XVIIL 
Patrons 

Persons may become patrons of the Boys' Congress of Mis- 
sions by the payment annually of five dollars toward the 
maintenance of the organization. 

ARTICLE XIX 

Credits. 

Credits shall be given to members for work done, according 
to merit, as follows: — 

One credit for each of the monthly responses to roll call. 

Five to twenty-five credits, according to merit, for each of 
the following: — 

A map of the country the member represents. 

A specimen of its architecture, or other characteristic. 

An essay on the country. 

One essay during the year on the life of a missionary. 

A series of prizes or honors shall be awarded to the members 
receiving the highest total number of credits during the year 



Constitution 183 

in the five subjects. The colors of the B. C. M. to be awarded 
to a few doing the next best work. Honorable mention to be 
made of a few doing third best work. 

The Superintendent and Division Leaders shall constitute the 
Committee on Awards. 

The expense of the prizes or honors shall be borne by the 
church, or shall be taken from the fund supplied by the Patrons. 

AETICLE XX 

Amendments 

Amendments may be made by a two -thirds vote of the mem- 
bers present at a regular meeting. 



MAY 20 1907 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Sept. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

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